£ 
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IC-NRLF 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


The  Changing  Race  Relationship  in 
the  Border  and  Northern  States 


BY 


HANNIBAL  GERALD  DT  ?T  <  X  A.  1VL,  TH.  D, 

PBOFBSSOR  OF  ECONOMICS  AND  So  i  a LOGY 
SIMMONS  Cor.'  ^QE. 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PIX*SYr,v\NT\  r. 
PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIRED  V-VT8  'OR 
THE    DEGREE    OF   DOCTOR   OF   PHIR        5^|T^ 


PHILADELPHIA,    PA 
1922 


EXCHANGE 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


The  Changing  Race  Relationship  in 
the  Border  and  Northern  States 


BY 


HANNIBAL  GERALD  DUNCAN,  A.  M.,  TH.  D. 

PROFESSOR  OP  ECONOMICS  AND  SOCIOLOGY 
SIMMONS  COLLEGE. 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  IN 
PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR 
THE    DEGREE    OF    DOCTOR    OF    PHILOSOPHY 


PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 
1922 


PRESS  OF 

INTELLIGENCER    PRINTING   COMPANY 
LANCASTER.    PENNA. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Chapter  page 

PREFACE 3 

I.   MIGRATION 5 

1.  Number 5 

2.  Type 14 

3.  Causes 19 

II.   SEGREGATION  IN  CITIES  AND  IN  THE  COUNTRY 22 

1.  By  general  growth 22 

2.  By  law. 26 

3.  In  the  country 33 

III.  SEGREGATION  IN  INSTITUTIONS  OF  LEARNING 35 

1.  Elementary  and  high  schools 37 

2.  Business  and  trade  schools 41 

3.  Colleges  and  universities 42 

4.  Hospitals,  reformatories,  and  asylums 47 

IV.  RACE  DISTINCTIONS  IN  PLACES  OF  PUBLIC  ACCOMMODATION 55 

1.  Railroads  and  street  cars 55 

2.  Hotels  and  restaurants 62 

3.  Theatres  and  motion  pictures  shows 64 

4.  Barbershops  and  bootblack  stands 66 

5.  Skating-rinks  and  pool-rooms 68 

6.  Parks 68 

V.   RACE  DISTINCTION  IN  THE  ECONOMIC  AND  POLITICAL  WORLD  ....  71 

1.  Professional  and  business  men 72 

2.  Skilled  and  unskilled  laborers 77 

3.  Office  holders,  voters,  and  the  courts 85 

VI.   SEX  RELATIONSHIP  AND  CRIME 90 

1.  Interracial  marriage 91 

2.  Mulattoes 94 

3.  Crime,  riots,  and  lynchings 98 

VII.   RELIGIOUS  RELATIONSHIP 106 

1.  In  churches 108 

2.  In  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 114 

VIII.   GENERAL  SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 116 

BIBLIOGRAPHY.  .                                                          124 


PREFACE 

Some  twenty-five  years  ago  Henry  Grady  was  invited  to  de 
liver  an  address  in  Boston  on  the  New  South.  On  his  way  to 
Boston  he  stopped  for  a  day  in  New  York  City,  where  he  met  a 
staunch  Southern  friend,  who  asked,  with  interest,  what  he 
would  say  to  the  people  in  Boston  about  the  South.  Grady 
replied:  "For  the  life  of  me,  I  don't  know.  I  can  think  of  a 
score  of  things  which,  if  I  do  not  say,  the  people  of  Georgia  will 
lynch  me  when  I  return  to  that  State,  and  which,  if  I  do  say, 
the  people  of  Boston  will  skin  me  alive  before  I  can  leave  town. " 
I  suppose  every  one  who  has  spoken  or  written  anything  on  the 
Negro  question  has  felt  himself  in  somewhat  the  same  predica 
ment. 

Six  years  ago  I  began  the  study  of  the  Negro  problem.  Since 
that  time  I  have  tried  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunities 
afforded  me  to  gain  a  correct  and  sane  view  of  the  problem. 
After  the  subject  of  this  thesis  came  to  my  mind  I  went  to 
several  large  public  libraries  and  read  everything  I  could  find 
on  the  Negro  problem.  Then  I  traveled  several  thousand  miles, 
going  to  a  number  of  the  largest  cities  and  towns  to  investigate 
the  real  race  relationship.  In  addition  I  have  written  over  a 
hundred  letters  to  authors,  writers,  social  workers,  investigators, 
and  other  public  men  and  women  who  are  in  a  position  to  give 
accurate  information,  many  of  whom  have  written  me  the 
results  of  their  investigations  on  different  points  and  their 
opinions,  etc.,  for  all  of  which  I  am  indeed  grateful. 

My  purpose  in  writing  my  thesis  on  this  subject  is  primarily 

to  show  that  the  Northern  white  people  have  lost  their  war-time 

y-sentiment  for  the  Negro  race,  and  are  becoming  more  hostile  to 

I  his  presence  and  less  interested  in  his  welfare;  and  secondarily, 

I   to  show  that  the  Southern  white  people  have  lost  some  of  their 

I  war-time  sentiment  and  are  becoming  more  interested  in  the 

\uplift  and  welfare  of  the  Negro  race. 

I  purposed  not  to  go  below  the  Southern  Border  States,  nor 
into  the  Western  States,  but  I  have  quite  often  had  to  overstep 
my  boundary.  So  many  boards,  conferences,  conventions,  etc., 
are  designated  as  Southern,  Northern,  and  Western,  which 

3 


4  Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

boundaries  cut  some  sections  and  States  in  twain,  and  do  all 
their  business  in  one  central  body,  that  I  have  been  forced  to  go 
over  my  boundary.  Then  I  have  occasionally  referred  to  some 
specific  thing  out  of  my  boundary  to  draw  a  comparison  or  to 
bring  out  more  clearly  some  point  under  consideration. 

I  do  not  think  I  have  written  a  mere  tu  quoque  argument. 
Such  a  puerile  performance,  I  fear,  would  be  perilous  for  me.  I 
did  not  intend  to  write  a  defence  of  the  South  and  a  condemnation 
of  the  North,  nor  vice  versa.  I  have  written  of  conditions  just 
as  I  have  found  them,  and  I  have  expressed  my  views  frankly 
about  conditions  which  the  data  I  have  collected  sustain. 

HANNIBAL  GERALD  DUNCAN 

Moravian  Falls,  N.  C.,  September,  1919. 


CHAPTER  I 
MIGRATION 

We  hear  and  read  much  to-day  about  the  exodus  of  Negroes 
from  the  South  into  the  North,  but  few  seem  to  have  any  definite 
idea  of  the  extent  and  scope  of  this  migration  or  the  causes  that 
bring  it  about.  Some  seem  to  think  there  is  no  undue  exodus, 
while  others  have  the  idea  that  it  is  much  larger  than  it  really  is. 

In  this  chapter  I  shall  endeavor  to  find  out  something  of  the 
number  of  Negroes  who  are  migrating,  the  type,  and  the  causes 
of  their  migration.  I  shall  have  to  deal  mostly  with  statistics, 
tables,  etc.  As  every  one  who  has  dealt  with  statistics  knows, 
we  can  not  rely  upon  them  to  prove  every  point.  So  do  those 
who  have  studied  the  statistics  of  the  Negro  know  that  some 
reports  relating  to  the  per  cent,  of  increase  of  the  Negro  can  not 
be  wholly  trusted.  When  the  census  report  of  1900  came  out, 
experts  and  students  of  Negro  census  were  greatly  baffled.  They 
could  not  understand  why  there  should  be  such  a  fluctuation  in 
the  Negro  population,  seemingly  without  a  cause.  The  truth 
was,  as  they  later  decided,  that  in  1890  census  taking  had  been 
badly  done,  especially  in  the  South.  In  all  probability,  the  rate 
of  Negro  increase  between  1880  and  1890  was  about  16  per  cent, 
rather  than  13.5  per  cent.;  and  between  1890  and  1900,  under  15 
per  cent,  rather  than  18  per  cent,  as  reported.  However  this  may 
be,  I  feel  that  this  would  not  make  any  material  change  in  the  kind 
of  work  I  am  doing,  as  these  mistakes  were  chiefly,  if  not  wholly, 
in  the  "Negro  States"  and  have  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the 
Border  and  Northern  States.  So  I  feel  that  we  can  very  satis 
factorily  rely  upon  the  statistics  that  I  shall  use  in  this  chapter; 
and  in  this  chapter  I  hope  to  lay  the  basis  for  some  of  the  con 
clusions  reached  in  other  chapters. 

1.  Let  us  try  to  find  out  something  about  the  number  of 
Negroes  who  are  migrating  and  whether  they  are  migrating 
from  the  South  to  the  North,  or  from  the  North  to  the  South. 

5 


6  Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

TABLE  I 

PERCENTAGE  OF  ABSOLUTE  INCREASE  OF  RACIAL  ELEMENTS,  1900-19 10.1 

Native  White  of  Native  White  of 

Cities              Native  Parents  Foreign  Parents  Foreign  Born       Negro 

New  York 25.0                        32.0  52.1  51.2 

Chicago 25.6                        25.3  18.1  46.3 

Philadelphia 11.9                        19.9  30.2  34.9 

St.  Louis 42.6                          3.2  13.2  23.8 

Pittsburg 19.6                        14.0  22.3  25.3 

Kansas  City 62.9                        36.5  38.5  34.1 

Indianapolis 54.0                          8.0  15.8  37.5 

Cincinnati 36.3                          5.7  1.8  33.7 

Boston 8.0                        24.2  23.4  16.9 

In  the  above  table  I  have  taken  a  few  of  the  largest  cities  of 
the  North  to  find  out  the  increase  of  the  racial  elements  in  those 
cities  for  the  decade  ending  1910.  In  it  we  find  that  the  Negro 
element  has  increased  in  New  York  City  next  to  the  foreign  born; 
in  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  and  Pittsburg  it  has  gone  far  ahead  of 
any  of  the  other  racial  elements.  In  St.  Louis,  Indianapolis, 
and  Cincinnati  it  comes  next  to  the  native  whites,  and  in  Kansas 
City,  alone,  it  falls  to  the  bottom  of  the  list.  Thus  we  find  the 
Northern  cities  of  the  metropolitan  class  showing  a  percentage  in 
the  absolute  increase  in  the  Negro  population  varying  from  51.2% 
to  16.9%,  New  York  standing  at  the  top  and  Boston  at  the 
bottom. 

In  table  II,  we  find  a  steady  increase  in  the  percentage  of 
Negroes  in  the  total  population  in  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Jersey  City,  and 
Columbus.  In  Boston,  Cleveland,  Baltimore,  Buffalo,  Kansas 
City,  Indianapolis,  Louisville,  Memphis,  Wilmington,  and  Little 
Rock  we  find  a  higher  percentage  of  Negroes  in  1900  than  in 
either  1910  or  1890.  Newark  shows  no  change  for  the  last  two 
decades.  So  we  may  say  in  the  last  named  cities  there  is  no 
indication  of  a  rise  in  the  percentage  of  Negroes,  but  a  decrease 
for  the  last  decade  is  noted  in  all  except  Newark.  When  we 
turn  to  Washington  and  Richmond,  two  cities  which  have  been 
noted  for  their  Negro  population,  we  find  a  steady  decrease  in  the 
percentage  of  Negroes.  It  is  probable  that  the  decrease  in  the 
last  two  cities  was  due  to  migration.  It  seems  plausible  that 
these  cities,  situated  as  they  are,  would  furnish  many  Negroes 
for  the  North.  The  great  fluctuations  in  some  of  the  cities  shows 
the  need  of  local  study,  which  alone  can  determine  the  conditions 
and  the  causes  of  the  fluctuations. 


1  Census  for  1900-1910. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 


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8          Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

TABLE  III 

PERCENTAGE  OP  RACIAL  ELEMENTS  IN  TOTAL  POPULATION  IN  1910.s 

Native  White  of  Native  White  of 

Cities  Native  Parents  Foreign  Parents    Foreign  Born     Negro 

New  York  19.3  38.2  40.4  1.9 

Chicago  20.4  41.8  35.7  2.0 

Philadelphia  37.7  32.1  24.7  5.5 

St.  Louis  39.3  35.9  18.3  6.4 

Boston  23.5  38.3  35.9  2.0 

Cleveland  23.6  39.9  34.9  1.5 

Baltimore  46.8  24.1  13.8  15.2 

Pittsburg  33.0  35.9  26.3  4.8 

Buffalo  28.2  43.3  28.0  0.4 

Cincinnati  42.6  36.4  15.6  5.4 

Newark  27.3  38.1  31.8  2.7 

Washington  50.4  13.6  7.4  28.5 

Jersey  City  28.0  40.7  29.0  2.2 

Kansas  City  61.9  18.4  10.2  9.5 

Indianapolis  64.5  17.7  8.5  9.3 

Louisville  50.7  23.4  7.8  18.1 

Columbus  64.4  19.6  9.0  7.0 

Richmond  54.2  6.0  3.2  36.6 

Wilmington  51.4  22.5  15.6  10.4 

Memphis  45.8  9.3  4.9  40.0 

Little  Rock  54.0  10.0  4.3  31.6 

In  table  III,  I  have  taken  the  largest  cities  in  the  Border  and 
Northern  States  to  compare  the  percentage  of  racial  elements  in 
the  total  population  of  these  cities.  In  them  I  find  the  percent 
age  of  Negro  population  in  the  total  population  ranging  from 
0.4%  in  Buffalo  to  40.0%  in  Memphis.  The  percentage  of 
Negroes  in  the  Northern  metropolitan  cities  is  generally  very  small 
compared  with  the  other  racial  elements,  but  as  we  approach 
the  South  it  suddenly  begins  to  rise.  Wilmington  has  10.4%; 
Baltimore,  15.2%;  Louisville,  18.1%;  Washington,  28.5%;  Little 
Rock,  31.6%;  Richmond,  36.6%;  Memphis,  40.0%.  In  Wash 
ington,  Little  Rock,  Richmond,  and  Memphis  it  is  exceeded  only 
by  the  native  white  population  of  native  parents,  far  surpassing 
the  other  racial  elements.  In  New  York  the  foreign  born  exceed 
any  of  the  other  racial  groups.  In  Chicago,  Boston,  Cleveland, 
Newark,  and  Jersey  City  the  foreign  born  are  more  numerous 
than  the  native  white  population  of  native  parents. 

3Census  of  1910,  Abstract,  p.  95. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 


The  percentage  of  Negroes  does  not  amount  to  11%  in  any  of 
the  Northern  cities,  and  in  the  largest  cities  it  ranges  from  only 
2%  to  6%.  Nevertheless,  if  the  Negro  population  is  considered 
in  absolute  numbers,  it  constitutes  a  "city  within  a  city,"  larger 
than  most  of  the  cities  of  the  South.  The  Negro  city  in  New 
York  is  confined  to  a  much  smaller  area  than  cities  where  the 
total  population  corresponds  to  it.  We  often  hear  it  stated  that 
foreigners  do  not  have  as  much  prejudice  against  the  Negroes  as 
do  Americans.  This  statement  seems  strange  when  we  examine 
a  city  like  New  York,  with  its  heterogeneous  cosmopolitan  popu 
lation,  and  find  so  much  feeling  against  the  Negro. 

TABLE  IV 

PERCENTAGE  OF  NEGROES  BORN  OUTSIDE  THE  BORDER  AND  NORTHERN  STATES 
FROM  1890  TO  1910,  ALSO  THE  PERCENTAGE  OF  URBAN  AND  RURAL  FOR  1910.4 


Pennsylvania 

Native    Negro    Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 

New  York 

Native  Negro  Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 

New  Jersey 

Native  Negro  Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 

Ohio 

Native  Negro  Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 


Urban 

1910  1900  1890  1910 

191,935  155,981  107,626  154,560 

84,960  70,365  58,681  63,605 

106,975  85,616  48,945  90,955 

55.7  54.9  45.5  58.8 

121,340  95,680  68,543  104,934 

49,750  44,614  40,177  40,151 

71,590  51,066  28,366  64,783 

59.0  53.4  41.4  61.7 


88,273  69,385 

37,017  31,663 

51,256  37,722 

58.1  54.4 

110,797  96,418 

59,194  56,232 

51,603  40,186 

46.6  41.7 


47,362 

26,874 

20,488 

43.3 

86,771 

50,568 

36,203 

41.7 


64,143 

23,502 

40,641 

63.4 

81,676 

39,349 

42,327 

51.8 


Rural 
1910 
37,375 
21,355 
16,020 
42.9 

16,406 

9,599 

6,807 

41.5 

24,130 

13,515 

10,615 

44.0 

29,121 

19,845 

9,276 

31.9 


Census  of  1910. 


10 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 


West  Virginia 
Native  Negro  Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 

Virginia 

Native  Negro  Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 

Illinois 

Native  Negro  Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 

Maryland 

Native  Negro  Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 

Indiana 

Native  Negro  Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 

Delaware 

Native  Negro  Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 

Tennessee 

Native  Negro  Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 

Kentucky 

Native  Negro  Population 
Born  in  State 
Born  outside  State 
Per  cent,  outside  State 


Urban 

Rural 

1910 

1900 

1890 

1910 

1910 

64,091 
27,160 
36,931 
57.6 

43,475 
21,420 
22,055 
50.7 

32,686 
18,189 
14,497 
44.4 

15,353 
7,202 
8,151 
53.1 

48,738 
19,958 
28,780 
59.1 

670,800 
623,472 
47,328 
7.1 

660,570 
625,544 
35,026 
5.3 

635,673 
616,513 
19,160 
3.0 

158,031 
136,203 
21,828 
13.8 

512,769 
487,269 
25,500 
5.0 

108,121 
35,917 
72,204 
66.8 

84,468 
30,022 
54,446 
64.5 

56,507 
23,437 
33,070 
58.5 

84,758 
24,730 
60,028 
70.8 

23,363 
11,187 
12,176 
52.1 

231,799 
201,594 
30,205 
13.0 

234,761 
208,672 
26,089 
11.1 

215,388 
196,075 
19,313 
9.0 

98,849 
77,637 
21,212 
21.5 

132,950 
123,957 
8,993 
6.8 

60,223 
25,224 
34,999 
58.1 

57,441 
25,304 
32,137 
55.9 

45,466 
21,215 
24,251 
53.3 

48,351 
18,727 
29,624 
61.3 

11,872 
6,497 
5,375 
45.3 

31,146 

22,668 
8,478 
27.2 

30,668 
23,274 
7,394 
24.1 

28,362 
22,426 
5,936 
20.9 

11,142 
6,806 
4,336 
38.9 

20,004 
15,862 
4,142 
20.7 

472,989 
393,173 
79,816 
16.9 

480,151 
405,007 
75,144 
15.7 

430,751 
363,058 
67,693 
15.7 

150,435 
102,362 
47,073 
31.3 

322,554 
289,811 
32,743 
10.2 

261,590 
233,454 
28,136 
10.8 

284,634 
260,025 
24,609 
8.6 

268,057 
246,225 
21,832 
8.1 

106,577 
90,621 
15,956 
15.0 

155,013 
142,833 
12,180 
7.9 

Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          11 

In  the  above  table  I  have  taken  some  of  the  Border  and  North 
ern  States,  those  that  show  the  greatest  fluctuation  of  the  Negro 
population,  to  find  out  the  percentage  of  Negroes  born  outside 
the  State  in  which  they  reside.  In  this  we  find  that  the  largest 
per  cent,  of  Negroes  in  Illinois,  New  York,  Indiana,  New  Jersey, 
West  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania  were  born  outside  of  the  State 
in  which  they  reside.  In  Ohio,  Tennessee,  Delaware,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  and  Kentucky  the  greater  part  were  born  in  the  State  in 
which  they  reside.  Illinois  heads  the  list  with  66.8%  born  out 
side  of  the  State,  and  Virginia  falls  to  the  bottom  with  only  7.1%. 
From  this  it  is  easy  to  see  which  way  the  Negroes  are  migrating. 
It  also  appears  that  Negroes  have  become  more  mobile  each 
decade.  In  West  Virginia,  Oklahoma,  and  Arkansas  the  percent 
age  of  increase  of  Negroes  was  above  that  of  the  whites,  but  in 
all  the  other  Southern  States  there  was  a  small  relative  decrease 
in  the  proportion  of  Negroes  to  whites  in  the  population. 

TABLE  V 
NEGROES  BORN  IN  ONE  STATE  AND  RESIDING  IN  ANOTHER.5 


Virginia 

Maryland 

Delaware 

District  of  Columbia 

West  Virginia 

North  Carolina 

South  Carolina 

Georgia 

Florida 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Alabama 

In  the  above  table  I  have  taken  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and 
Ohio  to  find  out  from  which  States  they  receive  the  largest 
number  of  their  migratory  Negroes,  and  how  many  they  give 
in  exchange.  Just  a  glance  at  the  table  is  enough  to  satisfy  any 
one  that  thousands  of  Negroes  are  leaving  the  South,  and  but 
few  are  going  into  the  South.  Of  course  these  three  States  have 

6  Census  of  1910. 


Pennsylvania 

New  York 

Ohio 

Gained 

Lost 

Gained 

Lost 

Gained 

Lost 

from 

to 

from 

to 

from 

to 

48,995 

1,092 

29,157 

570 

10,195 

283 

20,030 

1,621 

'  3,510 

343 

737 

130 

5,798 

952 

463 

126 

35 

16 

2,937 

848 

2,080 

435 

284 

285 

2,260 

554 

345 

63 

2,358 

1,176 

9,735 

264 

10,283 

161 

3,884 

82 

2,113 

107 

6,698 

48 

1,102 

27 

1,578 

232 

3,792 

101 

1,549 

104 

393 

198 

1,257 

191 

164 

98 

992 

161 

873 

49 

18,835 

805 

1,065 

179 

648 

79 

3,481 

366 

545 

213 

536 

53 

781 

229 

12        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

within  their  borders  Negroes  born  in  all  the  Southern  States, 
but  I  thought  it  sufficient  to  work  out  only  those  States  furnishing 
the  largest  number.  In  1890  there  were  241,000  Southern  born 
Negroes  living  out  of  the  South.  In  1900  there  were  349,000. 
From  1900  to  1910,  2,100  Northern  Negroes  went  South.  The 
total  number  of  Negroes  living  in  the  North,  but  born  in  the 
South,  was  in  1910,  440,534.  At  the  same  date  there  were  only 
41,489  Negroes  born  in  the  North  living  in  the  South.  Need  we 
wonder,  then,  that  there  is  a  change  in  conditions  with  this  great 
army  of  blacks  marching  into  the  North?  Yet,  there  were  but 
1,078,000  Negroes  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line  in  1910, 
or  1.72%  of  the  total  population  of  the  North.  In  no  geographic 
division  outside  of  the  South  did  the  Negroes  constitute  as  much 
as  3  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  in  1910.  The  highest 
percentage,  2.2,  was  in  the  Middle  Atlantic  division.  Outside  of 
the  South  there  was  no  State  in  which  the  percentage  of  Negroes 
was  as  high  as  5%.  Negroes  formed  4.8%  of  the  population  of 
Missouri;  3.5%  of  New  Jersey;  and  3.2%  of  Kansas.  Despite 
the  fact  that  the  Negro  population  of  the  North  appears  as  a 
negligible  quanity  at  that  time,  it  had  reached  sufficient  propor 
tions  to  call  forth  opposition. 

In  1880  sixteen  percent,  of  the  Negro  population,  that  is  over 
1,000,000  persons,  were  living  in  States  other  than  those  in  which 
they  were  born;  this  migrating  population  increased  100,000  be 
tween  1880-1890.  Between  1890  and  1900  it  increased  still 
faster,  reaching  in  the  later  year  1,370,000.  Between  1900-1910 
it  increased  240,000.  Between  1860-1910  the  Northern  Negro 
population  increased  from  344,719  to  1,078,336,  indicating  a 
migration  of  at  least  200,000  persons  in  addition  to  the  natural 
increase.  Mr.  John  C.Rose  says:  "  There  has  been  a  consider 
able  movement  of  Negroes,  during  the  decade,  northward  across 
the  Mason  and  Dixon  's  Line  and  the  Ohio  river.  Yet  in  the 
North  as  a  whole  the  Negroes  do  not  even  yet  number  one 
in  every  fifty  of  the  inhabitants."6 

According  to  the  census  of  1910,  the  net  loss  of  Negroes  from 
the  South  to  the  North  and  West  was  399,045;  yet  the  Southern 
whites  show  a  net  loss  of  only  46,839.  Among  the  most  striking 
things  shown  by  the  last  two  census  are  the  small  increases  and 

6  America  Ecomomic  Review,  June,  1914. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          13 

decreases  of  the  Negro  population  in  the  Border  States.  Of  the 
six  States  in  which  the  Negro  population  decreased  during  the 
last  ten  years,  four  of  them— Maryland,  Tennessee,  Missouri, 
and  Kentucky— are  Border  States.  The  increases  for  Virginia 
and  Delaware  were  so  very  small  that  they  can  almost  be  classed 
with  the  retarded  group.  When  we  compare  the  movements 
of  the  white  and  Negro  populations  in  the  counties  of  the  Border 
States  we  see  some  striking  contrasts.  For  example,  in  the  98 
counties  of  Virginia,  the  whites  gained  in  84,  while  the  Negroes 
lost  in  68.  Similar  contrasts  appear  in  the  figures  for  the  other 
Border  States.  This  shows  us  that  the  movements  of  Negroes 
and  whites  in  these  States  are  quite  different.  But  when  we  go 
to  a  State  like  Alabama,  we  find  that  for  the  last  decade,  out  of 
her  67  counties,  the  whites  increased  in  51  and  the  Negroes  in  43. 
We  also  find  that  the  rate  of  increase  in  the  Negro  population  is 
about  four  times  as  rapid  in  the  cities  farther  North  as  it  is  in 
those  nearer  the  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line.  One  half  of  all  the 
Negroes  in  the  thirty-two  States,  North,  East,  and  West,  are  in 
the  cities  of  Washington,  New  York,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Pittsburg,  Kansas  City,  Cincinnati,  and 
Indianapolis. 

We  have  seen  from  the  census  of  1910,  table  V,  that  up  to  that 
time,  thousands  of  Negroes  had  migrated  North.  For  some  time 
we  have  been  living  under  abnormal  conditions.  When  the  war 
clouds  broke  in  Europe  with  its  far  reaching  effects,  our  country 
did  not  escape  and  later  entered  into  the  struggle.  The  European 
War  immediately  caused  a  scarcity  of  labor  in  the  North. 
Immigrants  from  the  warring  nations  ceased  to  land  on  our 
shores,  and  many  of  those  who  were  already  here,  returned  to 
their  native  countries  to  fight.  The  demand  for  supplies  from 
across  the  seas  put  our  industrial  plants  to  the  test,  and  calls  for 
labor  were  imperative.  Before  any  one  was  aware  of  the  fact 
Moses '  army  had  begun  to  march  out  of  Egypt.  Thousands  of 
Negroes  were  leaving  the  South  for  the  North.  This  migration 
continued  throughout  the  War  and  to-day  no  one  knows  how 
many  Negroes  crossed  into  the  North.  James  W.  Poe,  President 
of  the  Colored  Patriotic  League,  estimated  that  one  third  of  a 
million  Negro  laborers  had  moved  from  twelve  Southern  States 
in  less  than  a  year,  (June  23,  1917)  and  that  at  least  73,000  had 


14        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

found  their  way  into  Pennsylvania.  He  gives  the  figures  of  the 
exodus  by  States  as  follows :  Virginia,  49,768;  Mississippi,  35,291 ; 
Tennessee,  22,633;  Florida,  10,291;  Georgia,  48,897;  Kentucky, 
21,855;  South  Carolina,  27,560;  Texas,  10,870;  North  Carolina, 
35,576;  Arkansas,  23,628;  Oklahoma,  5,836.  The  estimate 
made  for  the  Government  by  G.  R.  Snavely  for  the  State  of 
Alabama,  is  75,000  or  8.3%  of  the  Negro  population.  This 
number,  he  says,  migrated  within  eighteen  months. 

During  the  eighteen  months,  the  time  when  the  Negro  migra 
tion  was  the  most  extensive,  the  Negro  population  of  certain 
Northern  cities  is  said  to  have  increased  from  one  to  four  fold. 
On  July  12.  1917  it  was  estimated  that  Cleveland's  Negro 
population  had  been  increased  by  an  influx  of  10,000  Negroes 
from  the  South.  During  the  year  ending  September  1917,  it  is 
reported  that  25,000  Negroes  entered  Cincinnati;  and  for  the 
same  year  Pittsburg  found  itself  with  a  new  Negro  population  of 
18,550.  The  Negro  population  of  Detroit  jumped  from  8,000 
to  25,000,  and  the  population  of  Philadelphia  was  increased  by 
40,000  Negroes  from  the  South. 

Dr.  Du  Bois  conjectured  that  altogether  about  250,000  Negro 
workmen  had  left  the  South  up  to  June  1917.  If  these  Negroes 
moved  their  families,  it  would  imply  that  something  like  three- 
fourths  of  a  million  of  Negroes  have  moved  North.  Other 
estimates,  based  upon  the  records  of  insurance  companies, 
railway  ticket  offices,  and  other  sources,  range  from  250,000  to 
750,000.  After  weighing  all  the  estimates,  the  result  seems  to 
show  that  from  400,000  to  500,000  Negroes  have  traveled  North 
during  the  period  of  migration  which  ran  at  high  tide  during  the 
years  of  1916-1917.  Of  course  these  estimates  are  not  much 
more  than  a  guess  and  how  many  of  these  Negroes  returned 
South  no  one  knows.  But,  after  all  is  said,  I  think  we  can  say 
there  are  nearly  2,000,000  Negroes  now  living  in  the  North. 

2.  Now  let  us  examine  the  type  of  Negroes  which  is  migrating 
North.  In  this  I  wish  to  ascertain  whether  the  Negroes  going 
North  are  rural  or  urban,  blacks  or  mulattoes,  illiterate  or 
educated,  for  I  am  sure  this  has  something  to  do  with  the 
race  relationship  in  the  North. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          15 

TABLE  VI 
GROWTH   OF   NEGRO  URBAN   POPULATION. 7 

Percentage     of     Urban     and  Percentage     of 

Rural  Negro  Population  Increase  by  Decades 

1910        1900  1910-00        1900-00 

Negro  population  in  U.  S.,   100.0        100.0  11.2              19.0 

Rural 72.6          77.3  4.5              13.7 

Urban 27.4          22.7  34.2              35.2 

TABLE  VII 

RURAL  AND  URBAN  NEGRO  POPULATION  IN  THE  SOUTH,  NORTH,  AND  WEST  FOR 

1900-1910.8 

Rural 

1910            Percent.  1900  Percent. 

United  States 7,138,534            100.0  6,829,873  100.0 

South 6,894,972            95.6  6,558,173  96.0 

North 232,708               3.0  271,700  4.0 

West 10,854               1,5  9  9 

Urban 

United  States                2,689,229            100.0  2,004,121  100.0 

South 1,854,455               69.0  1,364,796  68.0 

North 794,966               29.6  639,325  32.0 

West 39,808                1.4  9  • 

We  see,  from  the  above  tables,  that  the  Negroes  are  rapidly 
moving  toward  the  cities.  In  1860,  less  than  10%  of  the  total 
Negro  population  lived  in  cities  of  2,500  and  over,  but  by  1910, 
27.4%  lived  in  such  cities.  In  1910  there  were  38,992  fewer 
Negroes  living  in  the  rural  districts  of  the  North  than  in  1900, 
and  336,799  in  the  South.  In  1910  there  were  489,659  more 
Negroes  living  in  the  cities  in  the  South  than  in  1900,  and  155,641 
in  the  North. 

Nine  Northern  and  Border  cities — Boston,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Evansville,  Indianapolis, 
Pittsburg,  and  St.  Louis — were  chosen  to  show  the  tendency  of 
the  Negroes  to  leave  the  rural  districts  and  go  to  the  cities.  In 
these  it  was  found  that  between  1880  and  1890,  the  Negro  popu 
lation  increased  36.2%,  a  rate  three  times  that  of  the  rate  of 
increase  in  the  Negro  population  of  the  United  States.  Between 
1890  and  1900,  the  movement  became  more  pronounced  and  the 


7  Census  of  1910,  Abstract,  p.  92. 

1  Idem,  Supplementary  Analysis,  pp.  204-205. 

*  In  Census  of  1900  figures  for  "West"  are  included  in  "North". 


16         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

Negro  population  increased  74.4%,  or  more  than  four  times  the 
rate  of  increase  of  the  Negro  population  in  the  United  States. 
Between  1900  and  1910,  the  increase  was  37.4%,  or  more 
than  three  times  that  of  the  Negro  population  in  the  United 
States. 

In  fifteen  representative  Southern  cities  it  was  also  noticed 
that  the  Negro  population  increased  more  rapidly  than  the 
normal  rate  of  increase  all  over  the  country,  but  during  the  same 
period  the  increase  in  the  Northern  cities  was  larger.  In  these 
it  is  shown  that  there  is  a  steady  migration  of  Negroes  from 
rural  to  urban  districts.  If  there  is  steady  flow  of  Negroes  from 
rural  to  urban  districts,  and  such  a  large  number  of  Negroes 
migrating  from  the  South  to  the  North,  and  95.50%  of  the 
Negroes  living  in  the  South  are  rural,  then,  it  seems  to  me,  a 
large  per  cent,  of  the  Southern  Negroes  migrating  North  must 
be  rural. 

TABLE  VIII 

PERCENTAGE  or  MULATTOES  IN  THE  STATES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES — 1910.10 


States 

Mulattoes        States 

Mulattoes    States     Mulattoes 

Maine 

45.9— 

North  Dakota 

25.4— 

Mississippi 

16.9 

New  Hampshire0 

36.9— 

South  Dakota 

36.2— 

Arkansas 

18.4 

Vermont 

26.9— 

Nebraska 

27.1— 

Louisiana 

21.4 

Massachusetts 

36.7 

Kansas 

29.9 

Oklahoma 

28.6 

Rhode  Island 

33.4 

Delaware 

11.9— 

Texas 

18.1 

Connecticut 

24.7— 

Maryland 

18.6 

Montana 

33.3 

New  York 

22.8 

District  of  C., 

34.9 

Idaho 

34.7— 

New  Jersey 

15.8 

Virginia 

33.2 

Wyoming 

13.1— 

Pennsylvania 

19.2— 

West  Virginia 

32.5 

Colorado 

31.8— 

Ohio 

35.2— 

North  Carolina 

20.7 

New  Mexico 

27.0— 

Indiana 

24.1— 

South  Carolina 

16.1 

Arizona 

22.3— 

Illinois 

33.8 

Georgia 

17.3 

Utah 

25.3— 

Michigan 

47.0— 

Florida 

16.0 

Nevada 

37.0— 

Wisconsin 

39.4— 

Kentucky 

25.2 

Washington 

30.4— 

Minnesota 

36.9— 

Tennessee 

25.1 

Oregon 

29.1— 

Iowa 

24.3— 

Alabama 

16.7 

California 

36.3— 

Missouri 

28.4 

1PCensus  of  1910,    vol   1,   p.    159. — A  smaller  percentage  of  rnulattoes  in 
1910  than  in  1890. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States  17 

According  to  table  VIIJ,Michigan  has  the  distinction  of  having 
the  highest  percentage  of  mulattoes,  but  she  is  followed  closely 
by  Maine.  Delaware  may  be  proud  of  having  the  smallest 
percentage,  11.9%.  Wyoming  comes  next  with  13.1%.  Except 
ing  the  last  two  named  states,  it  is  clear  that  the  smallest  per 
cent,  of  mulattoes  is  in  the  "true"  South.  Then,  if  there  are  so 
many  more  "black"  Negroes  in  the  South  than  mulattoes,  it 
seems  reasonable,  according  to  a  priori  arguments,  to  suppose 
that  a  very  large  per  cent,  of  the  Negroes  who  migrate  North  is 
black. 

According  to  the  census  reports  for  1910,  the  percentage  of 
mulattoes  in  the  Negro  population  has  increased  from  12%  to 
29.9%,  or  about  74%,  since  1870;  and  from  15.2%  to  20.9%,  or 
about  37.5%,  since  1890. 

There  is  something  about  the  white  race  that  causes  the  "black" 
Negro  to  be  repugnant  to  it.  We  do  not  mind  so  much  coming 
in  contact  with  the  bright,  shiny-faced  mulatto,  but  when  it 
comes  to  the  flat-nosed,  thick-lipped  type  there  is  greater 
aversion.  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  the  Northern  whites  coming 
in  contact  with  this  black,  thick-lipped,  flat-nosed  variety  from 
the  South  is  responsible  in  some  measure,  at  least,  for  their  change 
in  relationship.  The  Negro  living  in  the  small  Northern  or 
Western  town,  where  there  are  very  few  Negroes,  gets  along  very 
well,  but  just  as  soon  as  there  is  a  new  migration  from  the  South 
conditions  are  no  longer  Utopian;  and  were  we  to  move  one-half 
of  the  Negroes  from  the  South  into  the  North,  we  would  create 
a  problem  far  more  serious  and  complicated  than  any  that  has 
ever  existed  in  the  Southern  States.  Almost  everywhere  I 
went  in  the  North  I  heard  complaints  against  the  black  Negroes 
from  the  South.  Often  I  heard  it  said,  "those  who  come  from 
the  South  are  so  black. " 


18         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

TABLE  IX 

ILLITERATE  NEGROES  IN  THE  POPULATION  TEN  YEARS  OF  AGE 

AND  OVER  BY  STATES — 1910.11 

State                                      Percent.  State                                   Percent. 

New  York 5.0        Delaware 25.6 

New  Jersey 9.9        Maryland 

Pennsylvania 9.1         District  of  Columbia 13.5 

Ohio 11.1         West  Virginia 20.3 

Indiana 13.7        Virginia 30.0 

Illinois 10.5        North  Carolina 31.9 

Michigan 5.7        South  Carolina 38.7 

Wisconsin 4.5        Georgia 36.5 

Minnesota 3.4        Florida 

Iowa 10.3  Kentucky  .  . 

Missouri 17.4        Tennessee 27.3 

North  Dakota 4.8  Alabama  .  . 

South  Dakota 5.5        Mississippi 

Nebraska 7.2        Arkansas 

Kansas 12.0        Louisiana 48.7 

24.6        Oklahoma 17.7 


From  Table  IX  I  have  omitted  the  New  England,  Mou  ntain, 
and  Pacific  States.  This  table  shows  that  the  Southern  States 
have  the  highest  per  cent,  of  illiterates.  Louisiana  takes  the 
lead  with  48.4%.  As  we  approach  the  North  and  West  the 
percentage  gradually  grows  smaller. 

TABLE  X 

ILLITERATES  IN  THE  POPULATION  TEN  YEARS  OF  AGE  AND  OVER — 1910.12 

Native  White  of  Native  White  of 

Cities                Native  Parents  Foreign  Parents    Foreign  Born     Negro 

Boston 0.1  0.2  10.0 

New  York 0.2  0.4  13.2               3.6 

Philadelphia 0.5  0.6  12.9               7.8 

St.  Louis 0.6  0.6  H.4 

Kansas  City 0.4  0.4  9-6 

Indianapolis 0.9  0.5  11.3 

Cincinnati 1.0  0.5  9.6 

Chicago 0.2  0.3  10.0 

Columbus 1.3  0.9  12.6 

Washington 0.6  0.4 

Louisville 1.3  1-0  9.5             18.7 

Baltimore 0.6  0.6 

11  Census  of  1910,  Abstract,  p.  245. 

12  Census  of  1910,  Abstract,  p.  250. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          19 

In  the  above  table  I  took  a  few  of  the  largest  cities  to  compare 
the  percentage  of  Negro  illiterates  with  the  native  whites  of  native 
parents  and  with  native  white  of  foreign  parents,  also,  foreign 
born.  We  can  gain  very  little  by  a  comparison  of  Negro  illiter 
ates  with  foreign  born,  as  many  of  the  foreign  born  have  not  had 
the  advantages  of  our  schools.  In  every  case  the  percentage 
of  illiteracy  is  higher  among  the  Negroes  than  among  either  the 
native  whites  of  native  parents  or  the  native  whites  of  foreign 
parents.  In  cities  where  they  have  separate  schools  for  the  two 
races,  we  can  account  for  part  of  their  illiteracy  on  the  grounds 
that  the  Negro  schools  are  often  not  as  good  as  those  for  the 
whites,  but  where  the  schools  are  not  separate,  having  the  same 
laws,  management,  teachers,  etc.,  we  shall  have  to  say  part  of  it, 
at  least,  is  due  to  migration  of  illiterate  Negroep  from  the  South. 
The  presence  of  these  illiterate  blacks  in  the  North,  from  the 
South,  stirs  up  race  feeling  more  and  more.  Large  numbers  of 
them  go  North,  seeking  freedom,  where  they  can  have  their 
"  rights, "  and  often  they  mistake  liberty  for  license— as  a  result, 
the  more  Negroes  the  sharper  the  expression  of  prejudice. 

The  whites,  who  in  1910  constituted  89.3%  of  the  total 
population  ten  years  of  age  and  over,  contributed  40.4%  of  the 
illiterates.  In  1910,  36.1%  of  the  illiterate  Negroes  was  in  the 
rural  districts  and  17.6  /0  was  urban.  Illiteracy  among  the 
Negroes,  however,  is  declining  rapidly  in  all  the  states.  In 
many  sections  the  Negroes  are  striving  harder  to  gain  an  educa 
tion  than  the  whites. 

3.  Now  let  us  turn  to  the  third  part  of  this  chapter  and  try 
to  find  the  causes  of  the  migration  of  the  Negro  to  the  North. 

Most  of  the  Negroes,  perhaps  over  three-fourths,  have  gone 
North  for  economic  reasons.  This  fact  was  brought  out  in 
every  investigation  made.  Of  course  quite  a  bit  of  this  is  due 
to  the  work  of  labor  agents.  Before  the  European  War  labor 
agents  did  a  thriving  business;  according  to  one  agent,  positions 
had  been  given  to  more  than  15,000  Southern  Negro  girls  and 
women  during  eighteen  years.  After  the  European  War  began 
labor  agents  were  sent  South  to  get  Negro  laborers  and  ship  them 
North.  The  labor  agents  were  unscrupulous  as  to  the  means 
used  for  soliciting  Negroes  to  go  North  to  work.  They  issued 
attractive  circulars  containing  such  phrases  as,  "Let's  go  back 


20        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

North  where  there  are  no  labor  troubles,  no  strikes,  no  lockouts; 
large  coal,  good  wages,  fair  treatment.  Two  weeks'  pay;  good 
houses.  We  ship  you  and  your  household  goods.  All  colored 
ministers  can  go  free.  Will  advance  you  money  if  necessary. 
Scores  of  men  have  written  us  thanking  us  for  sending  them.  Go 
now  while  you  have  a  chance."  These  circulars  and  the  news 
of  the  Negro  migration  reached  almost  every  Negro  cabin  in  the 
South.  The  promise  of  free  transportation  on  a  special  train  to 
work  that  would  pay  them  from  twice  to  five  times  as  much  as 
they  were  making  at  home  excited  many  a  Negro  throughout 
Dixie.  Of  course  the  labor  agents  did  not  care  so  much  for  the 
quality  as  they  did  the  quantity.  They  received  their  pay  "by 
the  head"  and  it  was  to  their  interest  to  get  large  numbers  to  go 
North.  It  seems,  however,  that  a  majority  of  the  migrants 
were  unmarried  men  between  the  ages  of  18  and  30. 

Neither  the  labor  organizations  of  the  North  nor  the  wealthy 
farmers  of  the  South  wished  to  see  these  Negroes  migrate.  Often 
the  Negroes  are  used  as  strike  breakers,  as  in  East  St.  Louis. 
This  often  results  in  serious  rioting.  On  the  other  hand,  this 
migration  left  many  of  the  wealthy  farmers  in  the  South  without 
a  sufficient  supply  of  labor  to  cultivate  their  farms.  It  is  re 
ported  that  many  acres  of  good  farming  land  have  been  idle  for 
the  last  four  years  as  a  result  of  the  migration  of  the  Negroes. 
These  farmers  are  largely  responsible  for  the  laws  being  passed 
prohibiting  the  wholesale  exportation  of  labor  out  of  the  different 
States  in  the  South.  These  Southern  employers  have  been 
raising  a  pathetic  cry  about  the  great  loss  the  migration  has  cost 
and  it  is  estimated  that  it  represents  an  economic  loss  to  the 
South  of  not  less  than  $200,000,000  in  crop  wealth.  But  there 
is  another  element  in  the  South,  whose  voice  we  seldom  hear 
through  the  public  press, — the  white  laborers  pressed  down  for 
a  hundred  years  by  economic  competition  with  the  Negro,  have 
been  given  a  new  hope  by  the  present  migration,  and  wherever 
their  voices  are  heard,  whether  around  the  moonshine  still  or 
the  cross-roads  store,  they  say  with  one  accord,  "Let  them  go." 

A  few,  if  not  many,  of  these  Negroes  have  left  their  homes  in 
the  South  for  fear  of  mob  violence.  Of  course  the  Negro  is  not 
in  any  great  danger  of  being  lynched  unless  he  transgresses  the 
"law."  And  while  it  is  not  the  chief  cause  of  migration,  never- 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          21 

theless,  it  is  reported  that  there  was  a  great  hegira  of  Negroes 
after  the  riot  at  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  August,  1898,  and 
the  one  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  1906.  Also,  there  was  an  exodus 
from  the  North  to  the  South  after  the  East  St.  Louis  and  Chicago 
riots. 

Another  cause  of  Negro  migration  is  the  desire  for  more 
political  freedom.  In  most  of  the  Southern  States,  only  the 
better  class  of  Negroes  vote,  while  the  ignorant,  poor  Negroes 
are  disfranchised.  While  I  do  not  think  the  Southern  Negro,  as 
a  rule,  cares  very  much  about  political  p'arties,  yet  some  of  them 
do,  and  seek  a  state  where  they  can  have  more  political  freedom. 
It  has  been  proven  more  than  once  that 'politicians  have  Negroes 
sent  North  to  swin^the  elections.  In  1916  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Michigan  are  said,  to  have  received  hundreds  of  Negro  " laborers" 
imported  from  tfie  South,  whose  chief  reason  for  being  in  the 
North  was  to  swing  the  election. 

Usually  the  Negroes  are  "wild  to  go  Norf,"  and  usually  take 
advantage  of  the  first  opportunity.  The  South  may  be  loath 
to  give  them  up  and  the  labor  organizations  may  be  opposed  to 
their  coming  North,  still  they  come,  and  still  the  South  has  them 
by  the  millions.  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Georgia  have  three- 
tenths  of  all  the  Negroes  in  the  United  States.  The  South  has 
77%  and  the  North  23%.  Washington  county,  Mississippi,  has 
more  Negroes  than  Maine,  Minnesota,  Montana,  Oregon, 
Wyoming,  Vermont,  Utah,  New  Hampshire,  Idaho,  North 
Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Nebraska,  and  California  all  combined. 
She  has  more  than  either  West  Virginia,  Delaware,  or  Oklahoma. 
Negroes  constitute  62.9%  of  the  population  of  the  Mississippi 
alluvial  region. 


CHAPTER  II 
SEGREGATION   IN  CITIES  AND  THE  COUNTRY 

In  this  chapter  I  expect  to  deal  specifically  with  segregation  of 
Negroes  in  city  blocks,  districts,  and  wards,  and  in  rural  districts. 
I  shall  leave  the  segregation  in  schools,  parks,  hotels,  etc.,  for 
the  following  chapters  as  they  can  best  be  treated  there. 

1.  We  have  seen  from  the  preceding  chapter  that  thousands 
of  Negroes  have  migrated  North.  Let  us  follow  the  Negroes  to 
their  Northern  homes  and  examine  the  conditions  there.  In 
their  Northern  homes  we  find  them  dwelling  in  more  or  less 
segregated  districts.  This  segregation  within  the  city  is  caused 
by  striking  forces  working  both  within  and  without  the  body  of 
Negroes  themselves.  The  Negro  naturally  desires  to  be  with 
other  Negroes.  They  are  very  gregarious.  The  consciousness 
of  kind  in  racial,  family,  and  friendly  ties  seems  to  bind  them 
closer  to  one  another  than  their  white  fellow-citizens,  but 
later,  as  the  Negro  develops,  he  wishes  to  get  a  better  place  to 
dwell — then  the  trouble  comes.  The  white  immigrant  can  shuffle 
off  the  coil  of  his  Continental  condition  and  soon  lose  his  identity 
in  American  society,  but,  not  so  with  the  Negro;  his  black  or 
brown  skin  betrays  him  and  he  must  take  a  " Negro's  place." 
So  there  grows  up  in  the  cities  of  the  North  a  distinct  Negro 
world,  isolated  from  many  of  the  impulses  of  common  life  and 
little  understood  by  the  white  world  about  it.  About  the  only 
white  people  who  know  or  care  anything  about  these  Negro 
districts  are  the  politicians,  who  understand  them  as  well  as  the 
seamen  knows  the  depths  and  shallows  of  the  sea.  Negroes 
continue  to  come  from  the  South  and  settle  in  the  Negro  districts. 
Thus  the  Negro  ghetto  is  growing  up  in  all  the  Northern  cities. 
New  York  has  its  Harlem  districts  of  over  40,000  within  about 
eighteen  city  blocks;  Philadelphia,  its  Seventh  Ward;  Chicago, 
its  State  Street;  Washington,  its  Northwest  Neighborhood; 
Baltimore,  its  Druid  Hill  Avenue;  and  Louisville,  its  Chestnut 
Street  and  "Smoketown. "  The  white  communities  surrounding 

22 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          23 

or  bordering  the  Negro  districts  frequently  misjudge  these 
communities,  as  is  seen  in  the  sobriquets  of  "  Monkeybottom, " 
"Needmore,"  "  Lickskillet, "  "  Buzzard 's  Alley, "  "  Niggertown. " 
"  Chinch-row, "  and,  as  indicated,  the  people  who  dwell  in  these 
neighborhoods  are  all  lumped  by  popular  opinion  into  one  class. 
We  usually  generalize  concerning  the  Negro  and  individualize 
concerning  the  whites.  If  one  Negro  commits  a  crime  we 
usually  blame  all  the  Negroes,  but  if  a  white  man  commits  the 
same  crime  he  alone  is  blamed. 

Mr.  Baker,  writing  on  the  conditions  of  the  Negro  in  the  North, 
says:  "In  abolition  times  these  Negroes  were  much  regarded. 
Many  of  them  attained  and  kept  a  certain  real  position  among 
the  whites;  they  were  even  accorded  unusual  opportunities  and 
favors.  *  *  *  At  a  time  when  the  North  was  passionately  con 
cerned  in  the  abolition  of  slavery  the  colour  of  his  skin  sometimes 
gave  the  Negro  special  advantages,  even  honours. 

"For  years  after  the  war  this  condition  continued;  then  a 
stream  of  migration  of  Southern  Negroes  began  to  appear,  at  first 
a  mere  rivulet,  but  latterly  increasing  in  volume,  until  to-day 
all  our  Northern  cities  have  swarming  coloured  colonies.  Owing 
to  the  increase  of  the  Negro  population  and  for  other  causes 
which  I  have  mentioned,  sentiment  in  the  North  toward  the 
Negro  has  been  undergoing  a  swift  change.  "13  During  abolition 
times  the  Negroes  in  the  North  were  highly  respected  and  were  ac 
corded  unusual  favors  and  opportunities.  But  later  the  Negroes 
began  to  go  and  settle  in  the  Northern  cities,  overflowing  their 
boundaries  in  every  direction,  increasing  more  rapidly  than  any 
other  single  element  of  the  urban  population.  Soon  outrageous 
assaults,  robberies,  murders,  and  rapes  began  to  occur,  and  with 
these  the  Northern  whites  became  as  hostile  as  the  Southern 
whites,  until  to-day,  the  Negro  in  the  Northern  city  is  almost 
completely  outside  the  pale  of  the  white  man's  sympathy  and 
there  is  nothing  more  tragic  than  the  conditions  of  the  swarming 
Negro  population.  These  things  have  so  changed  the  North 
that  to-day  we  find  men  openly  advocating  segregation.  Mr. 
J.  J.  Lindley,  in  discussing  the  conditions  of  the  Negroes  in  New 
York,  says:  "Segregation  to  my  mind  is  the  best  way  to 
preserve  the  environment  of  both  races.  *  .  *  In 

13  Following  the  Color  Line,  pp.  217-218. 


24        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

the  upper  section  of  this  city  there  is  a  colony  of  colored  people 
which  has  grown  within  the  past  twelve  years  from  10  inhab 
itants  to  nearly  100,000.  *  *  *  As  long  as  the 
white  people  do  not  annoy  them  there  is  peace  and  harmony. 
Their  one  wish  is  to  be  let  alone.  When  the  Negro  began 
settling  there  in  that  section  of  the  city,  the  white  residents  re 
sented  it,  and  tried  to  stop  the  influx,  but  greedy  property- 
owners  kept  on  selling  leases  and  property  to  the  Negroes,  so 
that  now  it  is  purely  a  Negro  colony,  and  one  of  the  largest  in 
any  of  the  Northern  cities.  How  much  better  it  is  that  they 
should  be  there  in  one  locality  than  scattered  all  over  the  city.  "14 

In  this,  Mr.  Lindley  not  only  expresses  his  own  sentiment  but 
he  indicates  two  other  things.  He  indicates  that  the  whites  are 
averse  to  living  in  Negro  neighborhoods.  Indeed,  the  Negro 
settlements  are  usually  bordered  by  or  surrounded  by  the 
gibberish-speaking  Italians  and  other  foreigners.  Really,  the 
Negro  comes  to  make  his  home  among  a  people  who  are  foreign 
to  him.  He  is  not  to  any  great  extent  with  the  descendants  of 

the  men  who  years  ago  fought  for  his  freedom he  speaks 

mournfully  of  wishing  that  he  might  take  his  chances  with  the 

American but  he  is  living  among  many  races,  the  most  of 

which  have  lately  come  to  this  country  and  have  no  traditions 
of  friendliness.  To  him  their  language  is  a  barbarous  jargon 
and  their  customs  utterly  foreign.  Often  he  feels  as  if  he  had 
been  mysteriously  transplanted  into  an  unfriendly  foreign 
country.  Mr.  Lindley  also  states  that  the  "greedy  property- 
owners  kept  on  selling  leases  and  property  to  the  Negroes." 
This  seems  to  say  that  the  Negroes  were  paying  higher  prices  for 
the  leases  and  property  than  the  whites.  It  is  evident  that 
these  "greedy  property-owners"  would  not  have  continued  these 
sales  unless  more  money  was  coming  to  them.  I  have  often 
found  that  Negroes  have  to  pay  higher  rents  and  get  poorer 
houses  than  their  white  neighbors. 

In  most  of  the  Northern  cities  there  is  no  law  on  the  statute- 
books  forbidding  the  Negro  living  where  he  pleases,  but  they 
are  segregated  very  definitely.  Some  people  wish  to  call  this 
separation,  but  between  segregation  and  separation  there  are 
broad  and  essential  differences.  Segregation  comes  by  force, 

14  New  Republic,  p.  199. 


Rqce  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          25 

separation  by  natural  choice.  Some  one  has  said  that  segrega 
tion  is  the  voice  of  the  stronger,  saying  to  the  weaker:  "Thou 
shalt  not."  Separation  is  the  voice  of  the  self-confident  saying: 
"I  prefer  to  do  this."  While  there  is  no  segregation  law  there 
is  the  all-powerful  law  of  sentiment  which  is  stronger  than  a  law 
on  a  statute-book.  It  has  power  to  put  any  law  in  force  or  to 
make  any  law  null  and  void.  This  law  is  at  work  in  the  North 
and  it  says  to  the  Negro:  "Thou  shalt  not  live  here,"  and  he 
speedily  moves.  In  Philadelphia  a  Negro  rented  a  home  and 
moved  his  furniture  and  family  in.  That  night  he  had  hundreds 
of  callers  and  the  next  day  he  moved  out.  In  the  2500  block  of 
Pine  Street,  one  Negro  moved  in  and  others  were  moving  in. 
As  a  result  houses  were  stoned  and  two  wagonloads  of  furniture 
were  burned  and  a  declaration  was  passed  that  no  Negroes 
would  be  tolerated  in  that  vicinity. 

Within  the  cities  in  Pennsylvania  the  Negroes  are  usually 
very  definitely  segregated.  Often  the  segregation  does  not 
appear  as  much  as  it  really  is  because  the  Negro  population  is 
cut  into  by  ward  lines.  The  largest  group  of  Negroes  in  Phila 
delphia  are  in  the  7th  and  30th  wards.  Philadelphia  has  a 
segregation  peculiar  to  itself.  Many  of  the  well-to-do  whites 
live  on  Chestnut  and  Walnut  streets  while  the  Negroes  live  on 
the  small  streets  just  behind  them.  In  some  places  the  Negroes 
are  completely  surrounded  by  the  whites,  the  whites  living  on 
the  wide  out  streets  and  the  Negroes  living  on  the  small  streets 
on  the  interior.  It  was  found  that  46  houses  sheltered  123 
families — 715  men,  women,  and  children — 75  of  the  couples 
were  married,  20  were  of  uncertain  marriages,  and  28  lived  in  the 
common  law  relations.  Yet  if  one  of  these  couples  had  tried  to 
move  into  a  white  district  of  the  city  where  they  could  live  like 
human  beings,  a  race  riot  would  have  been  the  outcome.  Rev. 
Dr.  Carl  E.  Grammer  says:  "My  heart  burns  when  the  renting 
of  a  house  in  certain  sections  of  Philadelphia  will  cause  a  riot 
and  a  colored  man  is  'accidentally'  shot  on  his  way  to  the  police 
station. " 

Conditions  in  New  York,  Chicago,  Pittsburg,  Boston,  Cin 
cinnati,  Cleveland,  Detroit  and  many  other  Northern  cities 
are  similar  to  Philadelphia.  In  all  the  Northern  cities  the 
Negroes  have  built  up  "quarters"  which  they  occupy  to  the 


26        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

increasing  exclusion  of  other  classes  of  people,  for  now  even  the 
foreigners  object  to  living  among  the  Negroes.  In  these  districts 
the  Negroes  live  chiefly  in  rooming  houses  or  tenements,  usually 
containing  several  families.  Many  of  the  houses  are  dilapidated 
dwellings,  with  the  plaster  sagging  from  the  lath,  the  paper  torn 
off,  the  windows  broken,  and  the  rooms  dark,  damp,  stuffy  and 
unsanitary.  In  these  houses  the  Negroes  sleep  not  only  in  the 
bedrooms,  but  also  in  the  basements,  attics,  dining  rooms  and 
kitchens.  Often  there  are  as  many  as  six  and  sometimes  more 
sleeping  in  one  room.  Sometimes  they  have  two  shifts,  each 
section  being  allowed  to  use  the  room  and  beds  for  twelve  hours, 
when  the  other  section  comes  in  and  uses  them.  Back  South  the 
Negro  might  have  been  oppressed,  but  he  could  have  his  home 
located  in  a  comfortable  place  with  plenty  of  light  and  air.  At 
least,  he  did  not  have  to  live  in  one  room  in  a  congested  slum  and 
pay  excessive  rents. 

What  does  it  mean  to  live  in  these  segregated  districts?  I 
think  it  is  clear  that  the  cruel  iron  hand  of  public  sentiment 
forces  both  the  good  and  bad  Negroes,  regardless  of  their  educa 
tion,  refinement,  or  financial  standing,  to  dwell  together  in  the 
Negro  districts.  It  is  also  clear  that  they  have  to  pay  higher 
rents  and  get  poorer  houses  than  their  white  neighbors.  These 
Negro  districts  usually  have  less  effective  police  protection  than 
the  white  districts.  Their  fire  protection  is  inadequate;  their 
streets  are  often  unpaved;  they  often  have  poorer  sewerage;  but 
they  do  have  everything  that  goes  to  bring  about  unsanitation, 
sickness,  death,  crime,  vice  and  destruction.  The  " red-light" 
districts  are  usually  located  within  or  near  their  boundaries. 
They  may  protest  as  they  quite  often  do,  but  no  one  heeds  their 
cry.  They  are  forced  to  witness  sin  in  all  of  its  worst  forms. 
They  know  the  white  man  in  his  worst.  During  the  still  hours 
of  midnight  they  hear  the  white  man's  automobile  puffing  its 
smoke  through  their  dingy  streets.  They  know  the  rest. 
Often  in  many  of  their  quarters,  drunken  men  and  women  lie  in 
the  streets  unmolested.  Murder  is  common.  Vice  dens  stand 
open.  Indeed,  it  is  a  pandemonium  where  sin  is  crowned 
" Lord  of  All." 

2.  We  have  examined  segregation  by  public  sentiment,  now, 
let  us  turn  and  examine  the  segregation  ordinances  in  cities. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          27 

The  preamble  of  the  Louisville  ordinance  was  as  follows:  "To 
prevent  conflict  and  ill-feeling  between  the  white  and  colored 
races  in  the  city  of  Louisville  and  to  preserve  the  public  peace 
and  promote  the  general  welfare  by  making  reasonable  provisions 
requiring,  as  far  as  practicable  the  use  of  separate  blocks  for 
residence,  place  of  abode  and  place  of  assembly  by  white  and 
colored  people  respectively."  Then  follows  the  ordinance. 
The  ordinances  of  all  the  cities  where  segregation  has, been  in 
force  expressed  this  as  their  purpose.  There  are  some  differences 
in  the  ordinances;  in  general  they  are  of  four  types:  (1)  The 
ordinances  passed  by  Baltimore  apply  only  to  all-white  and  all- 
Negro  blocks,  making  it  against  the  law  for  a  Negro  to  move  into 
a  white  block  and  vice  versa.  (2)  The  type  passed  by  Virginia 
enables  the  cities  to  divide  into  segregated  districts.  This  makes 
it  unlawful  for  a  Negro  to  move  into  a  white  district.  (3)  The 
type  passed  by  Richmond,  before  the  Statewide  segregation  act, 
legislates  for  the  whole  city,  declaring  that  a  block  is  " white" 
whenever  a  majority  of  the  residents  are  white  and  "colored" 
when  a  majority  of  the  residents  are  Negroes.  According  to  this 
law  a  Negro  can  move  into  a  mixed  block  when  a  majority  of 
those  residing  in  that  block  are  Negroes.  (4)  Norfolk  goes  a 
step  farther  and  determines  the  color  of  the  block  not  only  by  the 
occupancy  of  the  property,  but  also  according  to  the  ownership 
of  the  property  within  the  block.  In  all  the  ordinances,  an 
exception  is  made  in  regard  to  domestic  servants  residing  with 
their  employers. 

Baltimore  was  the  first  city  to  enact  a  segregation  ordinance, 
which  was  done  in  1910.  It  was  introduced  by  Councilman 
West  and  consequently  bore  his  name.  For  some  years  there 
had  been  friction  between  the  races  in  the  city,  resulting  from 
colored  people  moving  in  white  blocks.  This  friction  reached  its 
climax  in  1910,  when  a  colored  man  moved  into  the  1800 
block  of  McCullok  Street,  which  was  a  white  block.  The  whites 
immediately  determined  to  stop  f  uther  encroachment  of  Negroes 
on  white  blocks.  This  brought  the  first  ordinance  in  1910.  The 
next  year  a  test  case  held  this  ordinance  invalid.  Immediately 
another  was  passed.  Soon  some  doubt  arose  about  it  and  an 
other  was  passed  in  May,  1911.  This  one  was  held  to  be  uncon 
stitutional,  so  September  25,  1913,  they  passed  the  last  one, 


28        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

which  seems  to  be  holding.  Thus  Baltimore  passed  four  acts 
within  three  years.  Each  ordinance  seems  to  have  met  with 
vigorous  opposition.  The  National  Association  for  the  Advance 
ment  of  Colored  People  twice  won  against  the  measure,  the  last 
time  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  Maryland.  It  is  difficult  to 
say  just  what  caused  Baltimore  to  pass  these  ordinances,  more 
than  above.  She  is  a  border  city,  the  gateway  to  the  South  as 
well  as  to  the  North.  She  had  a  smaller  percentage  of  Negroes 
in  1910  than  in  1900,  having  15.2  per  cent,  in  1910  and  15.6  per 
cent,  in  1900.  But  Baltimore  was  a  growing  city  between  1890 
and  1900,  and  during  that  time  there  was  a  rush  of  rural  Negroes 
into  the  city.  This  caused  race  prejudice  to  develop  and  was 
probably  the  chief  cause  of  the  acts. 

Other  cities  followed  the  pattern  of  Baltimore.  Richmond, 
Norfolk,  Ashland,  Virginia,  followed  in  1911.  In  1912,  Virginia 
passed  Statewide  segregation,  which  permitted  cities  and  towns, 
so  desiring,  to  segregate  the  races.  The  police  justice  declared 
the  Norfolk  ordinance  to  be  unconstitutional,  and  it  was  carried 
to  the  higher  court.  Roanoke  and  Atlanta  followed  in  1913. 
The  Supreme  Court  declared  the  Atlanta  ordinance  to  be  uncon 
stitutional,  that  to  prevent  members  of  the  two  races  from  living 
in  the  same  block  was  "to  deny  the  inherent  right  of  a  person  to 
acquire,  enjoy  or  dispose  of  property,  and  for  this  reason  is  a 
violation  of  the  due  process  clause  of  the  Federal  and  State 
Constitutions."15 

Winston-Salem  and  some  other  smaller  cities  passed  segrega 
tion  ordinances  in  1914.  The  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina, 
in  April,  1914,  declared  the  Winston-Salem  ordinance  uncon 
stitutional.  Judge  Devine  said:  "The  result  of  this  policy 
might  well  be  a  large  exodus  of  the  most  enterprising  and  thrifty 
element  of  the  colored  race,  leaving  the  unthrifty  and  less 
desirable  element  in  the  State  on  taxpayers.  If  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  is  thereby  authorized  to  make  this  restriction,  a  bare 
majority  of  the  board  could,  if  they  deem  it  wise  and  proper, 
require  Republicans  to  live  on  a  certain  street  and  Democrats  on 
another,  or  that  Protestants  should  reside  only  in  a  certain  part 
of  the  town  and  Catholics  in  another,  or  that  Germans  or  people 

16  Courier-Journal,  Louisville,  Ky.,  Feb.  13, 1915. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  Stales          29 

of  German  descent  should  reside  only  where  they  were  in  the 
majority."16 

Louisville  passed  the  segregation  ordinance  in  1914.  It  was 
opposed  especially  by  the  Negroes.  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Steward, 
editor  of  The  American  Baptist,  a  Negro  publication,  said:  "My 
race  feels  that  such  an  ordinance  would  humiliate  us  and  while 
not  offensive  to  the  whites,  it  would  be  so  to  the  Negroes.  It 
would  serve  to  keep  us  in  alleys  by  confining  us  to  certain  locali 
ties,  and  would  be  a  death-blow  to  the  progressive  work  which 
we  are  carrying  on  for  the  uplift  of  the  race. 

"Such  an  ordinance  would  not  guarantee  us  a  decent  locality 
for  raising  of  children,  as  the  localities  now  occupied  by  the 
Negroes  are  in  the  worst  section  of  town.  The  white  people  and 
the  Negroes  ought  to  be  able  to  reach  an  agreement  and  settle 
the  difficulties  without  passing  a  law."17  On  the  other  hand, 
Otis  L.  Harrison,  editor  of  The  Columbian  Herald,  a  Negro  paper, 
favored  segregation.  He  argued  that  it  was  best  for  the  Negro. 
In  closing  he  said: 

"My  people  will  be  angry  with  me 

Because  I  hold  up  this  noble  fact; 
Some  day  for  themselves  they'll  see 
The  advantage  of  the  segregation  act. 

When  they  wake  up  from  their  dreams, 

They'll  be  glad  we  made  the  fight; 
Though  we  made  it  all,  it  seems, 

By  toiling  both  day  and  night. " 

Many  of  the  influential  whites  and  several  of  the  papers  published 
by  whites  were  against  the  segregation  act.  One  promi 
nent  white  lady  cried  because  the  Negroes  were  humiliated  in 
such  a  manner. 

I  think  the  real  estate  dealers  were  responsible  for  the  passage 
of  the  Louisville  segregation  ordinance.  I  found  that  they  often 
played  such  games  as  the  following,  which  was  related  to  me  by 
a  colored  lady  in  Louisville.  She  said  that  her  father — who 
was  a  Baptist  minister  and  had  lived  in  Louisville  for  a  number  of 
years  was  often  called  on  the  telephone  and  told  to  come  to  a 
certain  number  on  a  certain  street.  When  he  would  get  there 

16  Survey,  vol.  33,  p.  72. 

17  The  Louisville  Herald,  March  19,  1914. 


30        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  Stales 

he  would  find  a  vacant  house.  But  the  real  estate  dealer  had 
before  hand  told  the  whites  living  near,  that  a  Negro  was  trying 
to  buy  the  house.  The  whites  would  see  this  Negro  there  and 
think  he  was  trying  to  buy  the  house.  In  this  way  the  real 
estate  dealers  made  thousands  of  dollars.  The  colored  lady 
went  to  a  white  lady's  home  in  a  white  section  of  the  city,  one 
day,  and  found  the  white  lady  very  much  disturbed.  The  white 
lady  asked  the  Negro  why  her  father  wanted  to  buy  the  adjoining 
house.  The  Negro  replied  that  her  father  did  not  want  to  buy  it ; 
he  did  not  have  the  money  to  buy  it  with,  and  had  never  thought 
of  it.  The  white  lady  told  the  Negro  that  a  real  estate  dealer 
told  her  he  was  trying  to  buy  it,  and  she  saw  him  around  there. 
Finally,  however,  the  straw  that  broke  the  camel's  back  came. 
A  Negro,  who  was  advised  by  the  leaders  of  his  race  not  to  do  so, 
bought  a  home  in  a  white  section  of  the  city  and  moved  into  it. 
The  segregation  act  was  then  passed. 

The  Louisville  segregation  act  went  through  the  Ordinance 
Court,  then  to  the  Circuit  Court  and  was  upheld  in  both  courts. 
The  Court  of  Appeals  declared  there  was  no  discrimination.  In 
1917,  the  Supreme  Court  declared  it  to  be  unconstitutional.  In 
regard  to  this  decision  the  Journal  and  Guide,  a  Negro  newspaper 
published  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  says:  "  We  are  hopeful  and  optimistic. 
The  segregation  decision  of  1917  is  a  far  step  from  the  Dred  Scott 
decision  of  1857.  And  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  decision 
was  handed  down  by  a  Supreme  Court  the  majority  of  whose 
members  are  Democrats,  and  whose  chief  justice  is  a  native 
Southerner.  The  decision  is  unique  and  remarkable  also  for  the 
reason  that  never  before  in  the  history  of  the  Supreme  Court  has 
that  tribunal  reached  a  unanimous  decision  upon  any  question 
upholding  the  rights  of  the  Negro. " 

St.  Louis  passed  the  segregation  ordinance  in  February,  1916. 
This  was  the  first  popular  vote  by  the  initiative  under  the  new 
city  charter  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  first  popular  vote  in  the  United 
States  in  regard  to  race  segregation.  It  resulted  in  adoption  by 
a  three  to  one  vote.  One  half  of  the  total  registration  cast  their 
votes.  One  half  of  those  who  voted  against  the  measure  were 
Negroes.  The  only  white  wards  which  voted  against  it  were  two 
down  town  districts  inhabited  by  citizens  of  foreign  birth.  This 
election  marked  the  end  of  a  six  years '  fight  by  the  small  property 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          31 

owners  and  real  estate  dealers  to  secure  the  segregation  of  the 
races.  "The  ordinances  were  not  vigorously  opposed  because  it 
was  apparent  from  the  first  that  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to 
make  much  headway  against  universal  race  prejudice  and  the 
interest  of  small  property  owners.  *  *  *  Much 
prejudice  against  the  Negro  had  doubtless  been  aroused  by  the 
recent  long  run  of  the  'Birth  of  a  Nation'.  "18 

The  preambles  of  these  ordinances  are  couched  in  modest 
phraseology  that  seems  not  to  portray  any  great  amount  of  race 
prejudice.  But  the  Negro  understands,  full  well,  that  it  is  a  ser 
ious  blow  to  his  progress.  It  means  that  the  Negro  must  live 
where  he  is,  regardless  of  progress,  education,  or  refinement. 
This  is  especially  true  in  regard  to  some  of  the  ordinances.  Say 
ing  a  block  is  a  mixed  block  is  equivalent  to  saying  it  is  a  Negro 
block,  for  that  is  what  it  means  in  the  end.  When  a  white  family 
moves  away  from  a  mixed  block,  generally  speaking,  a  Negro 
must  move  in,  if  any  one  does.  Whites  usually  do  not  wish  to 
move  in,  and  if  the  Negro  is  not  allowed  to,  the  house  generally 
stands  empty.  Under  the  Louisville  ordinances  one  family  could 
change  a  block  from  white  to  colored.  I  know  of  one  instance  in 
which  this  happened,  and  a  lady,  who  lived  on  the  rent  she  re 
ceived  from  a  house,  could  not  rent  her  house  for  several  months. 

There  seems  to  be  a  chance  for  a  Negro  to  build  on  a  vacant 
lot  and  thus  escape  undesirable  surroundings.  But  we  know  full 
well  that  unless  the  vacant  block  is  in  the  Negro  district,  there 
will  be  whites  near  and  they  will  file  objections,  and  the  Negro 
will  not  be  allowed  to  build.  If  the  whites  are  not  near  enough 
to  object,  he  is  still  in  "Niggertown. " 

The  segregation  ordinances  have  their  advantages  and  dis 
advantages.  It  is  an  advantage  to  the  small  property  owners 
and  real  estate  dealers.  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  if  a  Negro 
moves  into  a  white  block,  property  near  by  rapidly  declines  in 
value.  The  real  estate  dealer  does  not  like  to  buy  property  in  a 
block  and  then  a  Negro  move  in  the  block  and  lower  the  price  of 
his  property.  The  small  property  owners,  real  estate  dealers, 
and  petty  politicians  seem  to  be  the  chief  promulgators  of 
segregation  ordinances. 

18  Survey,  March  11,  1916,  p.  694. 


32        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

The  ordinances  are  disadvantageous  to  the  Negroes,  as  they 
serve  to  keep  them  in  the  alleys  and  back  streets.  In  Ashland, 
Virginia,  a  Negro  was  forbidden  to  occupy  himself,  or  rent  to 
Negroes,  a  house  which  he  had  purchased  at  auction.  As  it  was 
formerly  occupied  by  Negroes,  white  people  could  not  move  in 
and  the  property  is  going  down  in  ruin.  In  another  town  a  Negro 
was  forbidden  to  build  a  house  next  to  his  own  home  on  land  he 
had  owned  for  years.  In  Louisville,  a  Negro  bought  a  home; 
before  he  could  move  in,  that  block  was  declared  "  white, "  so 
he  has  to  rent  it  to  white  people. 

While  segregation  is  disadvantageous  to  the  Negro,  I  can  see 
where  it  may  come  to  be  a  blessing  in  disguise.  It  may  be 
advantageous  in  forcing  the  better  element  to  live  with  the  bad. 
Of  course  this  is  trying  at  first,  but  it  may  serve  to  make  the 
upper  class  take  more  interest  in  the  lower.  Thus  it  would  bring 
about  better  police  and  fire  protection,  cleaner  streets,  better 
housing  conditions,  and  a  general  uplift  of  the  race. 

•It  may  serve  to  help  the  Negro  in  another  way.  As  the 
Negroes  are  segregated  from  the  whites,  they  will,  naturally, 
build  up  large  Negro  towns  by  the  side  of  the  white  towns  or 
cities,  which  will  be  joined  on  to  them  as  Buda  is  joined  to  Pest. 
In  their  own  city  they  will  have  their  own  police,  as  they  do  in 
many  towns  in  the  South  to-day.  Later  they  will  get  other 
officers,  elect  their  own  representatives,  and  thus  gain  back  much 
of  their  political  power  which  they  have  lost  through  disfranchise- 
ment  in  some  of  the  Southern  States. 

The  segregation  ordinances  started  in  Baltimore  and  have  been 
making  their  chief  headway  in  the  Border  States,  and  in  those 
Border  States  which  fought  for  the  freedom  of  the  Negroes  in  the 
Civil  War.  The  more  Southern  cities  have  not  shown  much 
interest  in  the  segregation  movement.  A  bill  was  introduced 
into  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  much  like  the 
Virginia  segregation  law,  but  it  was  lost.  In  several  Southern 
cities  it  was  discussed  and  dropped  without  any  action;  in  others, 
it  was  delayed  indefinitely;  in  some,  like  Birmingham,  it  was 
voted  down;  and  in  others,  it  was  declared  unconstitutional. 
Mr.  A.  P.  Bruce  says:  "All  the  previous  Statewide  measures  to 
separate  the  two  races  have  had  the  unanimous  approval  of  the 
Southern  white  people.  On  the  other  hand,  this  new  municipal 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          33 

measure  has  not  the  unreserved  endorsement  of  certain  important 
sections  of  that  people.  At  least,  it  can  be  said  that  the  wealthier 
classes  look  upon  the  law  with  indifference."19 

3.     There  are  some  other  movements  connected  with  segrega 
tion  which  should  be  discussed  in  this  chapter. 

(1)  Dr.   Clarence   Poe,    editor   of    The   Progressive  Farmer, 
North  Carolina,  fathered  a  movement  to  segregate  the  races  in 
the  country.     Dr.  Poe  advocated  the  enactment  of  a  statute  by 
the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  providing  that  when 
ever  the  greater  part  of  the  land  acreage  in  any  given  district  is 
owned  by  one  race,  a  majority  of  the  voters  in  such  a  district  may 
say  that  in  the  future  no  land  shall  be  sold  to  a  person  of  a 
different  race,  provided  such  action  is  approved  or  allowed  by  a 
reviewing    judge    or    board    of    county    commissioners.     This 
movement,  though  strongly  advocated  by  Dr.  Poe,  has  met  no 
general  approval.     We  may  say  it  has  met  with  violent  opposition 
on  the  part  of  many  progressive  whites.     I  feel  sure  it  will  never 
amount  to  anything  in  North  Carolina. 

(2)  There  is  another  movement  that  may  be  brought  in  here. 
This  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  a  segregation  movement,  for  the 
white  people  either  never  allow  Negroes  to  live  in  certain  dis 
tricts  and  towns,  or  drive  them  out  and  do  not  permit  them  to 
return.     In  Waverly,  Ohio,  Negroes  are  not  allowed  to  dwell. 
The  white  people  do  not  believe  they  can  stand  the  presence  of 
a  Negro  in  their  town.     A  Negro  is  not  permitted  to  stay  over 
night  under  any  consideration  in  Syracuse,  Ohio.     Some  months 
ago  " night-riders"  appeared  and  drove  all  the  Negroes  out  of 
New  Madrid  county,  Missouri.     There  are  certain  counties  in 
Indiana  and  Illinois  that  do  not  permit  a  Negro  to  dwell  within 
their  boundaries.     Lawrenceburg,  Ellwood,  and  Salem,  Indiana, 
have   not   permitted   Negroes   to   dwell   there   for   years.     On 
December  13,  1918,  notices  were  posted  in  Boothwyn,  Pa.,  giving 
the  Negroes  the  following  instructions:   "All  colored  people  are 
requested  by  the  general  public  of  Boothwyn  to  move  by  the 
21  Dec.  1918.     Boothwyn,  Pa." 

19  Nation,  vol.  93,  p.  119. 


34        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

During  the  European  War  many  Negroes  went  to  Coatesville, 
Pa.,  to  work.  After  the  end  of  the  war  a  wave  of  crime  hit 
Coatesville  and  each  night  the  cells  at  City  Hall  were  filled  with 
lodgers.  Each  morning  the  Negroes  were  lined  up  before  the 
mayor,  who  informed  them  there  was  no  work  there  for  them,  and 
then  turned  them  over  to  the  police  with  orders  to  escort  them 
out  of  town  and  show  them  the  road  back  South.  In  Huntington, 
Indiana,  a  petition  was  signed  by  328  citizens,  who  demanded 
the  removal  of  all  Negroes  from  the  city.  They  advanced  as 
their  reason  that  the  Negroes  were  being  used  to  replace  white 
labor.  The  Negroes  of  Pittsburg  are  colonized  largely  in  the 
East  End.  Recently  they  awoke  to  find  their  section  of  the 
town  placarded  with  the  following  warning:  "The  Klu  Kluk 
Klan.  The  War  Is  Over.  Niggers  Stay  in  Your  Places.  If 
You  Don't  We'll  Put  You  There.  The  Klu  Kluk  Klan."  All 
over  the  North  the  Negroes  were  herded  together  and  given 
instructions  to  "head  South."  Those  that  have  reached  the 
South  fervently  claim  that  it  is  no  more  North  for  them. 

I  think  it  is  clear  that  the  chief  battle  of  segregation  is  being 
fought  in  and  near  the  Border  States.  The  Northern  Border 
States  are  in  the  heat  of  the  fight.  I  believe  the  South,  in 
general,  has  no  special  interest  in  legal  segregation  beyond  the 
laws  already  in  force.  I  think  that  the  South  realizes  if  she 
continues  to  pass  restrictive  laws,  she  will  lose  the  progressive 
element  of  the  Negro  race.  This  she  does  not  wish  to  do.  I 
believe  the  leaders  of  the  Southern  white  people  have  come  to 
realize  that  a  "rose  cannot  bloom  under  a  millstone,  but  a  cactus 
can. "  So  they  are  now  working  to  develop  the  better  qualities 
of  the  Negro  rather  than  suppress  them. 


CHAPTER  III 

SEGREGATION  IN  INSTITUTIONS  OF  LEARNING 

Very  early  after  the  Civil  War  the  States  which  formed  the 
Southern  Confederacy  established  the  dual  system  of  schools. 
Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Virginia,  Tennessee,  Texas,  Oklahoma, 
Arkansas,  Missouri,  Kentucky,  West  Virginia,  Maryland,  and 
Delaware  maintain  this  dual  system  of  schools  very  rigidly. 
Kentucky,  West  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Delaware  were  willing 
to  be  counted  with  the  North  in  the  war,  but  in  the  dual  school 
system  they  were  willing  to  be  reckoned  with  the  South.  Where 
did  the  idea  of  separate  schools  for  the  races  originate?  In  the 
North.  Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Ohio,  Pennsyl 
vania,  Illinois,  and  Nevada  once  had  separate  schools,  but  most 
of  them  now  have  laws  on  their  statute-books  prohibiting  them. 
Colorado,  Idaho,  Iowa,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  Rhode  Island, 
and  New  Mexico  also  prohibit  them.  Indiana  and  Arizona 
permit  the  school  boards  to  establish  separate  schools  if  it  is 
thought  to  be  necessary.  Kansas  permits  separate  schools  in  cities 
of  over  150,000  inhabitants.  Connecticut,  Maine,  Montana,  New 
Hampshire,  North  Dakota,  Vermont,  South  Dakota,  Utah, 
Wisconsin,  and  Washington  have  not  seen  fit  to  express  their 
sentiments  in  regard  to  separate  schools. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Statewide  dual  system  of  schools  is 
chiefly  in  those  States  designated  as  " South"  in  the  Civil  War. 
Here  we  should  naturally  expect  to  find  this  system,  if  anywhere, 
because  it  is  chiefly  the  home  of  the  Negro.  But  I  think  there 
is  another  explanation  to  it.  I  hardly  think  the  system  would 
have  been  so  widespread,  especially  in  the  rural  mountain  dis 
tricts,  had  it  not  been  for  the  Reconstruction  Period.  The 
psychological  effects  of  the  period  of  Reconstruction  upon  the 
whites  of  the  South  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  It  served  to 
intensify  racial  differences  and  interests  in  a  way  very  injurious 
to  both  groups,  but  especially  to  the  Negroes.  The  Negro's 

35 


36         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

good  conduct  at  home  during  the  war,  and  proving  himself  to  be 
a  fighter,  won  for  him  the  highest  admiration  on  the  part  of  the 
whites.  The  North  had  the  idea  that  the  Negroes  would  revolt 
and  leave  their  masters,  but  this  they  did  not  do.  A  few  of  them 
ran  away  and  went  to  the  North,  it  is  true,  but  most  of  them 
remained  at  the  homes  of  their  white  masters,  obediently  working 
to  support  their  masters'  families  and  the  Southern  army. 
During  all  this  period  they  remained  faithful  to  every  trust  and 
not  once  were  their  black  hands  stained  with  blood.  But  when 
it  came  to  the  Reconstruction  Period  there  was  a  change.  This 
period,  probably,  hurt  the  South  more  than  the  four  years  war. 
The  white  man  had  been  master  of  the  Negro,  but  now  the  Negro 
was  master  of  the  white  man.  This  caused  the  Southern  whites 
to  become  embittered  with  a  prejudice,  both  against  the  North 
and  the  Negro,  that  is  far  from  being  dead.  To  this  cause,  I 
think,  can  be  attributed  many  of  the  laws  of  the  South  regarding 
the  Negro. 

Just  as  soon  as  the  schools  were  opened  for  the  Negroes  they 
were  willing  to  take  advantage  as  far  as  circumstances  would 
permit.  They  had  learned  in  slavery  that  education  was  not 
for  a  slave.  Slavery  being  over,  naturally,  they  were  in  a  hurry 
to  get  an  education.  In  their  childish  hopefulness  they  saw  in 
education  a  sort  of  talismanic  panacea.  While  they  had  no  very 
definite  idea  regarding  it,  they  were  pretty  sure  that  whatever 
else  it  might  be,  it  did  not  constitute  manual  labor.  They 
wanted  education  more  than  anything  else,  unless  it  was  a 
public  office.  They  desired  it  even  more  than  the  forty  acres  of 
land  and  a  mule,  which,  it  is  said,  was  promised  them  and  for 
which  they  waited  so  long  in  vain.  Whatever  else  may  be  said 
against  the  Negroes,  there  is  one  thing,  at  least,  to  their  credit, 
the  Negroes  after  the  war,  and  even  to-day,  throughout  the 
South  take  advantage  of  practically  every  opportunity  offered 
them  for  an  education.  In  many  places  they  far  excel  the  whites 
along  educational  lines  in  comparison  with  the  advantages 
offered.  It  is  often  said  of  the  Negro  in  the  South,  that  he  will 
go  to  school  regardless  of  what  he  has  to  eat  and  wear. 

We  have  seen  that  some  of  the  Border  States  fought  with  the 
North  but  are  as  strict  as  any  typical  Southern  State  in  separat 
ing  the  races  in  school.  Now,  let  us  examine  the  conditions  in 
the  other  Border  and  Northern  States. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States  37 

1.  When  we  examine  the  elementary  and  high  schools  of  the 
Border  and  Northern  States,  we  find  that  in  most  of  them  the 
law  makes  no  distinction  between  the  races  as  to  their  respective 
rights  in  the  public  school.  There  is,  however,  along  the  South 
ern  border  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Kansas 
a  semi-legal  segregation  in  the  schools  in  force.  At  least,  it 
amounts  to  a  tacit  understanding,  in  some  of  the  towns,  that  the 
colored  children  must  go  to  the  colored  schools,  and  that  they  will 
not  be  admitted  to  the  schools  attended  by  the  white  children. 
In  fact,  in  any  Northern  town  where  they  are  proportionately 
numerous,  there  is  just  the  same  tendency  and  desire  to  have 
them  separated  from  the  whites  as  there  is  in  the  South.  If  this 
separation  is  not  effected  by  white  parents  procuring  the  transfer 
of  their  children  to  schools  where  there  but  a  few  Negroes,  very 
often  parents  send  their  children  to  private  schools  in  order  that 
they  may  not  have  to  go  to  school  with  Negroes. 

In  Kansas  the  school  laws  do  not  permit  the  separation  of 
colored  and  white  children  except  in  cities  of  first  class  and  then 
only  in  elementary  schools.  High  schools  of  the  State  are  open 
to  both  races  with  the  exception  of  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  which 
by  special  legislation  has  been  permitted  to  segregate  the  races 
for  the  high  school.  When  this  law  was  passed,  1900,  the  Negro 
population  in  Kansas  City  was  only  12.7  per  cent,  of  the  total 
population  of  the  town,  and  about  3.5  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
population  of  the  State.  It  seems  that  it  was  caused  by  agitation 
following  the  murdering  of  a  white  boy  by  a  Negro. 

In  many  of  the  towns  in  Indiana  the  Negro  children  are 
admitted  into  the  public  schools  with  the  white  children.  Other 
towns,  however,  maintain  strict  separate  schools  for  the  two 
races.  Jeffersonville,  Princetown,  Evansville,  Mt.  Vernon,  and 
Madison  are  especially  noted  for  their  separate  schools.  In 
Indianapolis  the  races  are  not  so  definitely  separated,  but  even 
there,  schools  have  been  established  in  and  near  their  settlements. 
Indiana  has  five  colored  high  schools. 

There  is  no  law  for  separation  of  the  races  in  the  schools  of 
Illinois.  There  are,  however,  in  the  central  and  southern  part 
of  the  State,  a  number  of  counties  where  separate  schools  prevail. 
In  these  counties  the  separation  is  carried  out  fully.  In  the 
cities,  graded  schools  with  high  school  courses  are  provided  for, 


38         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

and  proficient  teachers  are  employed  and  the  country  schools 
are  becoming  standardized  along  with  the  other  schools  of  the 
counties.  In  1913  Illinois  had  six  Negro  high  schools,  two  more 
than  she  had  in  1910.  Illinois  has  eighteen  counties  that  main 
tain  these  separate  schools.  This  is  according  to  the  law  of 
public  sentiment.  In  Alton,  in  1908,  the  Negro  children  were 
excluded  from  the  public  school  most  convenient  to  them.  A 
case  came  up  and  after  being  tried  seven  times  went  to  the 
Supreme  Court  where  the  Negroes  gained  it.  But  the  next 
year  the  Negroes  were  excluded  again. 

Ohio  does  not  permit  the  separation  of  the  races  in  schools, 
but  Ohio  has  separate  schools  in  some  places  and  is  listed  as 
having  one  Negro  high  school.  That  is  as  many  as  Maryland 
or  Delaware  is  listed  as  having,  both  of  which  maintain  strict 
separation. 

New  Jersey  is  another  State  which  prohibits  separate  schools. 
But  in  East  Orange,  as  early  as  1906,  we  find  a  separate  school 
for  the  Negroes  established.  Despite  the  law,  several  of  the 
towns  in  New  Jersey,  as  Haddonfield,  Lawnside,  Merchantville, 
Moorestown,  etc.,  have  established  and  maintain  separate 
grammar  grade  schools  for  the  Negroes. 

In  regard  to  discrimination  against  the  Negroes  in  schools  of 
Philadelphia,  Dr.  DuBois  writes:  "The  chief  discrimination 
against  Negro  children  is  in  the  matter  of  educational  facilities. 
Prejudice  here  works  to  compel  colored  children  to  attend  certain 
schools  where  most  Negro  children  go,  and  to  keep  them  out  of 
private  and  higher  schools." 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  prejudice  against  mixed  schools  in 
eastern  Pennsylvania.  In  Philadelphia  and  Chester  the  tendency 
is  distinctly  toward  segregation.  In  both  cities  practically  all 
the  Negroes  go  to  a  few  schools  in  or  near  their  settlements, 
which  schools  are  attended  by  very  few  if  any  whites.  In 
Chester  the  races  are  very  definitely  separated  in  the  elementary 
schools,  but  in  the  high  school  both  races  go  together.  Separate 
schools  for  the  Negroes  were  established  in  Chester  about  fifteen 
years  ago.  One  of  the  men  who  was  very  influential  in  getting 
the  separate  schools  established  told  me  how  they  proceeded. 
He  said:  "Oh,  you  have  to  be  very  diplomatic.  Some  of  us 
went  to  some  of  the  influential  Negroes  and  told  them,  conditions 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          39 

being  as  they  were,  we  thought  it  would  be  better  to  establish 
some  separate  schools  for  the  colored  people  in  the  lower  grades. 
That  would  give  some  of  the  colored  people  positions  as  teachers 
in  the  colored  schools.  They  agreed  to  this  and  they  were 
established."  But  about  five  years  ago,  when  they  tried  to 
establish  a  separate  high  school  for  the  Negroes,  there  was  such 
strong  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Negroes  that  the  school  was 
not  established.  This,  however,  is  only  delayed,  as  there  seems 
to  be  great  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  school  officials,  teachers, 
and  students  to  having  a  mixed  school.  One  would  not  expect 
such  opposition  in  a  school  where  less  than  50  of  the  800  students 
are  Negroes.  In  this  school,  as  in  many  of  the  other  mixed 
schools,  the  Negroes  are  often  mistreated  and  insulted.  The 
whites  will  not  sit  by  them  in  class  or  assembly  without  showing 
strong  opposition.  Some  students  will  tell  you  frankly  that  they 
will  not  sit  by  a  Negro,  that  they  will  go  home  before  they  will 
sit  by  them.  And  there  is  always  a  general  row  as  to  who  will 
have  to  sit  by  the  Negroes  during  commencement  exercises. 

On  one  of  my  investigation  trips  in  Chester,  I  met  a  business 
man  of  the  city  who  had  moved  there  some  years  before  from 
New  York  State.  He  was  very  bitter  against  the  Negroes.  He 
had  refused  to  buy  a  group  picture  for  his  boy  of  his  class  in  the 
elementary  school  because  there  was  one  Negro  in  his  class.  He 
told  me  he  would  not  have  the  picture  of  any  Negro  in  his  home. 
He  requested  the  teacher  of  his  boy  to  have  the  Negro  put  out  of 
school.  This  case  is  no  exception  as  I  found  later.  Any  investi 
gator  can  find  in  any  Northern  city  with  a  considerable  Negro 
population  plenty  of  cases  of  this  kind  in  a  few  days,  and  find 
them  among  Northern  born  and  bred  men. 

I  have  said  that  Pennsylvania  prohibits  separate  schools,  but 
the  law  seems  to  be  ineffective,  for  Professor  N.  C.  Schaeffer, 
late  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of  Pennsylvania  wrote 
me:  "In  Carlisle  and  in  several  other  places  we  have  separate 
schools  for  the  colored  people.  Some  of  these  towns  where 
separate  schools  have  been  established  are  Coatesville,  Frankford, 
Germantown,  Lansdown,  Sharon  Hill,  West  Chester,  etc.  In 
Swarthmore,  where  the  Negro  population  is  only  about  200,  race 
prejudice  is  so  strong  that  they  now  have  in  the  school  a  Negro 
teacher  who  has  all  the  colored  pupils  in  one  class  room.  Lans- 


40        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

down  has  a  Negro  population  of  about  300,  but  with  such  a  few 
Negroes,  race  prejudice  is  so  strong  that  there  is  no  record  of  a 
colored  child  graduating  in  the  public  school  in  the  last  25  years. 

Greater  New  York  Consolidation  empowered  the  school 
boards  (1898)  to  establish  schools  for  colored  people.  In  1898 
and  1899  in  the  borough  of  Queens,  when  the  school  board  for 
that  borough  was  established,  two  colored  schools  were  in  exist 
ence,  one  in  Flushing  and  one  in  Jamaica.  In  Jamaica  there  had 
been  trouble  for  some  time  because  of  the  refusal  of  a  colored  man 
to  send  his  children  to  the  colored  school.  This  controversy 
finally  led,  in  1900,  to  the  passage  of  a  law  upon  the  initiative  of 
Governor  Roosevelt  amending  the  consolidated  school  law  of  the 
State  and  abolishing  colored  schools  except  in  the  rural  districts. 
The  two  schools  referred  to,  it  is  believed,  were  the  last  schools, 
maintained  in  the  State  with  the  exception  of  one  at  Hampstead, 
Long  Island.  The  present  legal  regulation  provides  that  separ 
ate  schools  may  be  established  if  the  local  authorities  vote  to  do 
so.  We  may  feel  sure  separate  schools  are  being  established. 
Mr.  Baker  says:  "In  Northern  cities  like  Indianapolis  and  New 
York,  *  *  *  separate  schools  have  appeared, 
naturally  and  quietly,  in  districts  where  the  Negro  population 
is  dense."21 

From  Sheffield,  Massachusetts,  near  Boston,  comes  the  report 
that  white  persons  complained  because  of  mixed  schools.  The 
school  board  then  organized  a  separate  school  for  the  Negroes 
with  a  Negro  woman  as  the  teacher.  To  this,  the  Negroes 
objected  and  refused  to  send  their  children  to  the  Negro  school. 
A  Negro  lawyer  took  the  case  to  the  courts.  But  the  courts 
sustained  the  board  of  education  in  their  action.  It  seems 
strange  that  the  sons  of  famous  abolitionists  would  object  to 
their  children  going  to  school  with  Negroes. 

From  Chester,  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  New  York,  and  many 
other  Northern  cities  comes  the  complaint  that  Negroes  either 
refuse  to  enter  the  high  schools  or  drop  out  before  completing 
the  course.  In  the  South  it  is  different;  here  about  all  they  ask 
is  to  be  given  a  chance  and  they  will  go  to  school.  I  think  there 
are  two  reasons  why  the  large  number  of  Negroes  do  not  attend 
the  high  schools  in  the  North:  They  see  no  reason  why  they 

20  Following  the  Color  Line,  p.  306. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          41 

should  continue  longer  in  school.  Education  fails  to  secure  for 
them  a  better  position.  If  they  secure  a  position  in  a  store  or 
hotel,  it  is  a  boy's  job  and  in  this  job  they  must  continue  through 
out  life.  Neither  education  nor  energy  will  permit  them  to 
advance  into  a  man's  job.  Some  of  the  hardest  questions  asked 
me  while  I  was  teaching  in  a  mixed  high  school  in  the  North, 
were  asked  by  Negro  students  in  regard  to  courses  of  study, 
schools,  and  professions.  One  very  black,  yet  quite  intelligent 
Negro  of  the  junior  class  told  me  he  wished  to  be  a  chemist,  and 
asked  my  advice.  I  told  him  that  he  was  large  and  old  enough  to 
realize  what  the  conditions  are,  and  how  race  prejudice  would 
hinder  him  in  his  work.  It  would  doubtless  be  impossible  for 
him  to  secure  a  position  in  the  North.  But  if  he  would  prepare 
himself,  I  thought,  he  could  go  South  and  secure  a  good  position 
among  his  own  people. 

Then  again,  at  the  age  the  colored  students  reach  high  school 
they  are  old  enough  to  really  begin  to  understand  race  prejudice. 
Numerically,  they  are  the  smaller  group,  so  they  are  crowded 
out  of  the  games  and  shunned  in  many  ways.  Many  times  have 
I  seen  a  few  Negroes  in  a  high  school  standing  off  by  themselves, 
talking  or  trying  to  play,  while  the  whites  were  all  playing  to 
gether.  The  whites  do  not  like  to  sit  by  the  Negroes;  they  do 
not  like  to  walk  with  them  or  play  with  them;  they  will  not  eat 
with  them;  and  when  it  comes  to  a  class  social  the  Negroes 
understand  that  they  are  not  wanted,  so  they  stay  away.  Rather 
than  endure  these  things  the  Negroes  refuse  to  attend  high 
schools  in  the  North. 

2.  In  most  States,  business  and  trade  schools  are  a  law  unto 
themselves.  They  are  mostly  private  schools  and  few  States 
make  any  provisions  for  private  schools.  They  give  ample 
opportunity  for  discrimination  against  the  Negro.  This  dis 
crimination  began  so  very  early  that  it  seems  to  be  generally 
understood  that  Negroes  are  not  permitted  to  enter.  I  think 
it  is  for  this  reason  that  we  find  so  few  cases  on  record  for  the 
last  few  years.  The  Negroes  tested  the  courts  and  found  that 
the  courts  claimed  no  authority  over  private  schools.  So  they 
decided  that  they  have  no  more  money  to  waste  in  this  way.  Of 
course  there  is  a  reason  for  their  not  trying  to  enter  now.  They 
now  understand  their  economic  position  better  than  a  few  years 


42        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

ago.  So  they  do  not  care  to  spend  their  time  and  money  com 
pleting  a  course  when  they  know  they  will  not  be  able  to  secure 
a  position  after  they  have  graduated. 

We  cannot  decry  the  owners  of  these  schools  for  their  dis 
criminations.  They  know  if  they  permit  Negroes  to  enter  their 
schools  they  will  lose  many  white  students.  Then,  if  they  are 
unable  to  secure  positions  for  their  graduates  their  pride  is 
wounded  and  their  school  injured.  There  are  many  cases  on 
record  in  the  Juvenile  Protective  Association  telling  the  results 
of  educated  Negroes  who  failed  to  find  employment  as  stenogra 
pher,  book-keeper,  or  clerk.  One  young  man,  a  graduate  of  a 
technical  high  school,  was  sent  with  other  graduates  of  his  class 
to  a  large  electric  company  where  in  presence  of  his  classmates 
he  was  told:  " Niggers  are  not  wanted  here."  Because  it  is 
impossible  for  a  Negro  to  get  a  position  as  book-keeper,  stenogra 
pher,  or  clerk,  Negro  boys  and  girls  in  the  high  schools  in  the 
North  refuse  to  elect  the  commercial  and  technical  courses;  and 
business  and  mechanical  schools  almost  all  over  the  North  deny 
admission  to  Negroes. 

3.  Discriminations  against  Negroes  in  colleges  and  univer 
sities,  in  the  North,  seem  to  have  increased  very  rapidly  for  the 
last  few  years.  We  hear  of  them  in  locations  where  one  would 
hardly  dream  of  discriminations  as  there  are  no  visible  causes. 

The  most  famous  case  on  record  in  any  of  the  Border  States  is 
the  Berea  College  case.  Why  the  legislature  of  Kentucky, 
March,  1904,  passed  the  law  excluding  Negro  students  from 
Berea  College  is  quite  a  question.  Dr.  Frost  writes  me:  "The 
agitation  for  a  law  excluding  colored  students  from  Berea  College 
arose  at  the  time  a  wave  of  feeling  swept  over  the  South  following 
the  famous  luncheon  at  which  Booker  Washington  sat  with 
President  Roosevelt.  There  were  citizens  of  Berea  also  who 
fomented  agitation  because  they  believed  that  the  exclusion  of 
colored  students  would  advance  the  price  of  real  estate  in  the 
village.  When  the  matter  was  once  brought  before  the  legis 
lature  it  was  difficult  for  anybody  to  oppose  it  without  subjecting 
himself  to  opprobrium  from  the  violent  Negro  haters  in  the 
legislature. " 

We  are  aware  that  after  the  famous  luncheon  the  South  rose 
up  in  anger.  Newspapers  printed  an  account  of  the  act  in  large 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          43 

headlines  and  petty  politicians  poured  out  their  wrath  on  the 
President  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  one  believe  that  by  a 
miraculous  act  some  antediluvians  had  escaped  the  Flood. 
Doubtless  the  President  did  not  imagine  he  was  doing  anything 
so  bizarre  or  strange  as  to  make  such  a  pother.  I  do  not  mean 
to  defend  President  Roosevelt  in  this  act.  Personally,  I  have  no 
objections  to  whites  eating  with  Negroes  if  they  want  to  do  so. 
I  have  eaten  many  a  meal  with  Negroes  both  in  the  corn-fields 
of  North  Carolina  and  in  Huston  Club  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.  Eating  with  Dr.  Washington  did  not  injure 
President  Roosevelt,  either  morally  or  socially,  I  am  sure.  But 
he  should  have  had  enough  foresight  to  have  seen  that  this  act 
would  cause  the  Negroes  in  the  South  to  receive  many  injuries 
from  the  whites,  and  the  whites  to  receive  many  insults  from  the 
Negroes.  Indeed,  the  famous  luncheon  gave  the  politicians  a 
new  subject  to  discuss  in  order  to  stir  up  race  hatred  and  thereby 
gain  office. 

There  is  another  side  to  the  Berea  College  case  that  eluded  the 
casual  inquirer,  nevertheless,  one  that  is  held  by  many  whites 
and  Negroes  in  Kentucky.  Many  of  the  whites  and  colored 
people  believe  that  President  Frost  was  the  first  one  to  start  the 
agitation  to  have  the  white  and  colored  students  separated  in 
Berea  College.  They  say  that  Dr.  Frost  saw  that  the  school 
was  going  down  financially,  and  that  he  could  never  build  up  the 
kind  of  a  school  he  wished  as  long  as  the  two  races  were  together. 
I  asked  Dr.  Frost  if  he  were  falsely  accused.  He  replied:  "I  did 
not  desire  or  promote  actively  or  secretly  that  movement." 

There  were,  perhaps,  several  things  working  together  that 
caused  the  law  to  be  passed,  as,  the  famous  luncheon,  with  the 
spread  of  the  anti-Negro  legislation  in  other  States,  in  the  hands 
of  the  politicians.  Then  there  was  a  desire  for  advanced  prices 
among  some  of  the  real  estate  dealers  in  Berea.  There  was  also 
some  published  misrepresentations  of  the  conditions  among  the 
students  of  Berea.  These,  however,  the  legislature  declined  to 
send  a  committee  to  investigate.  And  finally,  perhaps,  some  of 
the  authorities  of  Berea  College  wished  to  have  the  Negroes 
excluded,  thinking  they  could  build  up  a  better  school  without 
the  colored  students. 


44         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

Berea  College,  established  on  the  old  soil  of  slavery,  freely 
admitted  white  and  colored  students  for  nearly  forty  years  and 
without  contamination  or  reproach,  taught  them  in  the  same 
classes.  It  took  a  State  law  to  separate  the  white  and  colored 
students  in  Berea  College,  but  as  we  advance  North  we  find 
many  schools  where  it  does  not  require  a  State  law.  Public 
sentiment  forces  the  Negro  out  and  when  a  case  comes  up  in 
court  the  Negro  loses  the  case.  It  has  become  very  easy  for 
judges  in  the  North  to  find  some  technical  point  of  law  on  which 
to  base  their  decisions  against  the  Negro. 

When  we  examine  a  city  like  Cincinnati,  we  find  that  no  Negro 
can  attend  the  Eclectic  Medical  School,  the  Ohio  Medical  College 
or  any  other  medical  institution  in  the  city.  The  Ohio  Medical 
College  is  a  part  of  the  University  of  Cincinnati  and  supported 
by  public  taxation,  but,  nevertheless,  Negroes  are  excluded. 
There  is  no  law  to  this  effect  but  it  is  according  to  public  will. 

When  the  Negroes  began  to  migrate  to  Chicago,  there  was  an 
increase  of  colored  students  in  the  schools.  With  this  increase 
prejudice  increased  until  several  of  the  medical  schools  made  an 
agreement  and  closed  their  schools  to  the  colored  graduate  stud 
ents.  Negro  settlers  have  increased  and  prejudice  has  increased 
until  it  is  next  to  impossible  for  a  Negro  to  get  first  class  medical 
training  in  Chicago. 

Even  as  far  North  as  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  and  as  early 
as  1908,  we  find  that  two  Negroes  were  refused  admission  to  the 
Grand  Rapids  Medical  College,  a  private  institution.  A  writ  of 
mandamus  compelling  the  school  to  admit  them  was  issued. 
Thirty-four  members  of  the  junior  class  struck.  The  Supreme 
Court  ruled  that  a  private  institution  of  learning,  though  incorpo 
rated,  had  a  right  to  say  whom  it  will  admit.  The  city  of  Grand 
Rapids  at  that  time  had  only  665  Negroes  among  her  112,571 
inhabitants. 

Des  Moines,  Iowa,  had  86,368  inhabitants,  2,930  of  whom  are 
Negroes.  In  1908  we  find  that  the  white  students  forced  the 
color  line  to  be  drawn  in  Highland  Park  College.  The  Negroes 
claimed  that  it  was  the  greatest  set  back  they  had  had  in  Iowa. 

Out  of  the  forty-four  colleges  in  Pennsylvania,  one  of  which  is 
for  Negroes,  sixteen  report  never  to  have  had  a  Negro  student. 
Several  others  report  to  have  had  one,  or  two,  or  three,  and  those 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          45 

several  years  ago.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania,  probably, 
has  had  more  Negro  students  than  any  of  the  other  higher 
institutions,  but  here  they  receive  few  if  any  honors.  I  have 
never  seen  one  in  any  athletic  game  or  contest.  Even  a  Du  Bois 
could  not  become  a  professor  in  that  institution.  Some  of  the 
religious  schools  as  the  Moravian  Seminary  and  St.  Vincent's 
College  do  not  permit  Negroes  to  enter.  Crozer  Theological 
Seminary  has  no  Negro  students.  Some  people  seem  to  think 
it  is  due  to  the  large  number  of  Southern  students  there,  but  I 
believe  the  Northern  students  are  just  as  much  opposed  to  the 
idea  as  the  Southern  students.  I  really  believe  they  were  more 
bitter  and  showed  less  sympathy  in  their  remarks  than  the 
Southern  students.  Many  of  the  students  from  the  South  ex 
pressed  their  preference  of  going  to  school  with  Negroes  rather 
than  Italians,  Poles,  Russians,  and  some  other  foreigners. 

Some  of  my  Negro  classmates  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
told  me  that  their  best  friends  in  the  University  were  Southern 
boys.  The  Northern  boys  were  not  so  open  with  their  prejudice, 
but  used  it  where  it  counted.  A  Negro  girl  related  before  the 
class  her  experience  with  race  prejudice.  I  wish  to  repeat  it 
here  as  accurately  as  I  can  recall  it : 

She  is  the  daughter  of  a  minister  in  Philadelphia.  Her  home 
was  in  a  white  ward.  In  school  she  was  the  only  Negro  in  her 
class,  so  she  did  not  meet  with  much  race  prejudice  in  passing 
through  the  elementary  and  high  school.  When  it  came  time 
for  her  to  make  arrangements  to  go  to  college,  she  found  that 
most  of  her  classmates  were  going  to  Bryn  Mawr.  They  ex 
pressed  their  desire  for  her  to  enter  with  them,  but  when  she 
went  to  stand  the  entrance  examinations,  she  was  informed  that 
Negroes  were  not  permitted  to  enter.  She,  then,  looked  for  a 
college  where  she  could  go,  finally  selecting  Cornell.  She 
graduated  from  Cornell  with  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  honor.  She 
returned  to  Philadelphia  to  teach  school,  but  the  school  board 
refused  to  employ  her.  She  then  went  to  work  and  finally  se 
cured  a  school,  only  to  be  turned  out  to  make  room  for  a  white 
girl. 

President  Mackenzie  of  Hartford  Theological  Seminary  tells 
me,  "That  at  rare  intervals  we  have  received  a  Negro  into  the 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary.  We  have  none  at  present.  So 


46        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

far  as  I  know,  there  were  no  serious  complaints  on  the  part  of  the 
white  students.  In  each  case,  however,  the  men  were  'picked 
men'." 

About  a  year  ago  a  Negro  made  application  to  enter  a  theo 
logical  seminary  in  the  North.  The  school  authorities  not 
knowing  what  to  do  with  the  applicant,  decided  to  leave  it  to  the 
two  Southern  members  of  the  faculty.  These  two  men  voted  to 
let  the  Negro  enter.  Then  the  school  authorities  had  to  find 
another  excuse  for  excluding  the  Negro.  A  member  of  the 
faculty  of  a  Northern  theological  seminary  said  to  me  not  long 
ago,  '  'My  father  was  a  Southerner  and  a  slave-owner,  but  I  could 
not  refuse  to  teach  Negro  students.  I  teach  Italians,  Russians, 
Japanese,  and  other  races,  why  should  I  refuse  to  teach  Negro 
students. " 

A  short  while  ago  the  white  students  in  a  New  Hampshire 
college  treated  a  Negro  student  very  badly.  This  was  to  give 
notice  to  other  colored  youths  that  they  were  no  longer  expected 
to  enter  that  institution.  And  on  April  30,  1919,  two  Negro 
students  from  Boston  were  tarred  and  feathered  by  the  white 
students  at  the  University  of  Maine,  Orono,  led  through  the 
streets  of  the  town  with  halters  about  their  necks,  and  chased 
from  town. 

The  Bostonians  have  ever  proclaimed  their  ideas  of  freedom 
and  culture,  which  they  wished  to  give  to  all  races,  and  believed 
it  the  duty  of  every  one  to  accept.  But  Boston  is  undergoing  a 

change,  in  one  thing  at  least equal  advantages  for  all  races. 

Even  the  old  historic  Harvard  University  is  changing.  Harvard 
has  been  noted  for  its  liberal  policies  toward  the  Negro,  and  has 
always  given  him  exceptional  advantages,  but  for  the  last  few 
years  many  have  noticed  a  changing  attitude  within  Harvard. 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Negro  students  at  Harvard 
have  been  law-abiding  and  never  disgraced  the  institution,  the 
lines  have  been  drawn  in  the  medical  school  and  Negroes  no 
longer  receive  the  liberal  treatment  they  formerl  r  received  in 
other  branches  of  the  University.  Although  a  few  years  ago  a 
Negro  doctor  was  house  physician  at  the  Boston  Lying-in- 
Hospital,  Negroes  students  can  no  longer  enter  that  institution. 
The  medical  school  requires  six  obstetrical  cases,  but  the  colored 
students  are  not  admitted  to  the  Lying-in-Hospital,  so  they  can 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          47 

not  get  the  degree.  A  few  years  ago  President  Eliot  awakened 
much  sharp  comment  among  the  Negroes  of  Boston,  when,  in  an 
address,  he  indicated  his  sympathy  with  the  general  policy  of 
separate  education  in  the  South  by  remarking  that  if  the  Negro 
students  formed  a  large  proportion  of  the  students,  a  separation 
of  the  races  might  follow  at  Harvard. 

4.  As  above  noted,  Harvard  excludes  Negroes  from  the 
medical  school  by  excluding  them  from  the  hospital.  If  Harvard 
wanted  the  Negro  students  she  could  very  easily  arrange  for 
them  to  get  the  required  number  of  obstetrical  cases,  but  they 
are  not  wanted  and  this  method  is  used  to  exclude  them.  The 
medical  schools  in  several  of  the  cities  of  the  North  are  using  this 
same  method  to  exclude  the  Negro  students. 

In  Cincinnati,  which  is  typical  of  other  border  cities,  Negroes 
are  not  allowed  to  operate  in  Sexton  Hospital,  the  large  City 
Hospital,  a  public  institution,  or  in  any  of  the  better  hospitals 
of  the  city.  Sometimes  Negroes  are  received  into  segregated 
wards  in  the  City  Hospital,  but  they  cannot  have  a  physician 
of  their  own  race  attend  them.  In  the  Children 's  Home,  a  large 
public  institution,  Negro  children  can  stay  but  twenty-four  hours. 
In  the  reformatories,  city  and  county  prisons,  and  city  work 
house,  they  separate  the  white  and  colored  as  much  as  they 
possibly  can. 

Preventing  Negroes  from  operating  in  the  hospitals  is  a 
serious  drawback  to  the  race.  It  often  shuts  them  out  of  schools 
where  they  would  get  the  best  hospital  training  and  medical 
instruction.  This  they  should  have  ,for  they  go  to  practice, 
generally,  among  their  own  race,  a  race  whose  death  rate  far 
exceeds  the  death  rate  of  the  whites,  and  a  race  which  has  some 
diseases  almost  peculiar  to  it.  For  these  reasons  they  should 
have  the  best  medical  and  hospital  training  that  science  affords. 
It  would  probably  be  advantageous  for  the  Negroes  to  have  a 
large  graduate  medical  school  where  they  could  study  diseases 
which  are  more  common  among  their  race.  Disease  germs  have 
no  race  prejudice,  and  the  diseases  which  attack  the  Negro  to 
day  will  attack  the  white  race  to-morrow.  It  seems  that  it  is 
time  for  the  white  people  to  realize  that  the  great  inroads  of 
such  diseases  as  tuberculosis  and  fevers  can  never  be  stopped 
until  the  Negroes  are  trained  in  modern  methods  of  scientific 


48         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

sanitation.  In  order  to  lower  our  death  rate  we  must  train  the 
Negro  and  help  him  to  lower  his  death  rate.  The  two  races  in 
America  are  tied  together  and  the  progress  of  each  depends  upon 
the  other  and  must  be  made  together. 

West  Virginia  requires  that  the  white  and  Negro  inmates  of 
her  reform  school  for  boys  shall  be  kept  separate,  and  the  indus 
trial  home  for  girls  as  far  as  possible.  New  York  has  on  many 
occasions  made  appropriations  for  asylums  for  Negro  children. 
Regardless  of  the  law,  she  leaves  the  impression  that  Negroes  are 
not  admitted  to  the  asylum  for  the  white  children.  All  through 
the  North,  wherever  there  is  a  considerable  number  of  Negroes, 
separate  institutions  have  sprung  up  for  the  Negro  children. 
And  while  there  are  a  number  of  institutions  that  will  admit 
Negro  children,  they  usually  find  some  excuse  for  sending  them 
to  the  institutions  maintained  by  their  own  race.  This  spirit  of 
separation  has  grown  rapidly  within  the  last  fifteen  years. 

Some  of  the  States  go  as  far  as  to  train  their  soldiers  separately. 
In  1889,  West  Virginia  provided  that,  if  any  colored  troops  should 
be  organized,  they  should  be  enlisted  and  kept  separate  and  apart 
from  the  other  troops,  and  should  be  formed  into  separate 
companies  and  regiments.  In  1895,  New  Jersey  made  provisions 
for  four  companies  of  colored  infantry.  This  evidently  means 
that  they  were  to  be  kept  separated  from  the  whites.  When  our 
troops  were  on  the  Mexican  border,  I  am  informed  that  there  was 
not  a  Negro  among  those  from  the  New  England  States  nor  from 
New  York  State.  In  training  our  soldiers  for  the  European  war, 
the  Negroes  were  kept  apart  from  the  white  soldiers. 

While  I  am  not  dealing  with  institutions  of  relief  and  punish 
ment,  as  they  can  hardly  be  considered  as  institutions  of  learning, 
since  little  or  no  instructions  along  educational  lines  is  given  in 
them,  I  wish  to  say  in  passing,  that  in  my  opinion  the  Negro 
race,  both  North  and  South,  is  sadly  neglected  along  this  line. 
In  many  places  the  Negroes  are  shut  out  of  the  white  institutions 
of  relief  without  any  institutions  of  their  own.  In  places  where 
institutions  have  been  established  for  Negroes,  they  are  often 
poorly  equipped  and  sadly  neglected.  The  Negroes  have  estab 
lished  homes  for  their  aged  in  New  Haven,  Boston,  Springfield, 
Providence,  New  Bedford,  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Philadelphia, 
Jersey  City,  Wilmington,  Baltimore,  Washington,  Leavensworth 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          49 

and  Evansville,  Indiana.     The  sad  neglect  of  the  Negroes  on  the 
part  of  the  whites  forced  the  Negroes  to  establish  these  homes. 

For  some  years  after  the  Civil  War  the  subject  of  Negro 
education  divided  the  whites,  roughly,  into  three  classes:  One 
class,  chiefly  in  the  South,  thought  it  useless  to  try  to  educate  the 
Negroes.  They  believed  the  minds  of  the  Negroes  incapable  of 
being  developed.  Another  class,  in  both  North  and  South, 
believed  the  Negro  capable  of  grasping  an  elementary  education 
only.  The  other  class,  chiefly  in  the  North,  believed  the  Negro 
capable  and  worthy  of  receiving  a  higher  education.  The  last 
class  has  now  absorbed  many  of  the  other  two  classes.  Yet  there 
are  a  few  who  cry  out  in  glowing  headlines  against  Negro  educa 
tion,  but  they  seem  to  have  more  prejudice  than  sound  judgment 
and  their  proofs  are  based  on  fallacies  in  their  own  minds.  Out 
side  of  yellow  journalism,  we  seldom  see  such  lavishness  of 
language  wasted  on  such  a  hoary  dogma.  To  be  sure  there  are 
hundreds  of  Negroes  incapable  of  grasping  an  education,  and 
there  are  also  hundreds  of  whites  in  the  same  predicament.  But 
a  philosopher  and  a  fool  may  not  only  be  members  of  the  same 
race,  but  of  the  same  family. 

The  Negroes  themselves  are  divided  on  the  subject  of  the 
Negro's  ability  to  develop.  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Thomas  says:  "  What 
ever  the  freedman  has  achieved  in  the  way  of  intelligence  and 
character  is  due  to  alien  qualities  incorporated  into  his  b>ing 
through  race  amalgamation.  "21  But  Dr.  Washington  says :  "  The 
Negro  is  behind  the  white  man  because  he  has  not  had  the  same 
chance,  and  not  from  any  inherent  difference  in  his  nature  and 
desires."22  And  again  Thomas  says:  "No  one  denies  that  the 
Negro  is  environed  by  a  network  of  prejudice,  many  of  which  are 
the  results  of  his  acts.  But  were  all  racial  antipathy  instantane 
ously  eradicated,  he  would  still  be  inferior  to  the  white  man  in 
many  respects,  not  only  on  account  of  racial  differences  in  color 
and  development,  but  also  because  of  whatever  creates  inequality 
whether  it  be  houses,  land,  clothes,  food,  or  personal  dexterity 
and  culture." 

I  think  we  all  agree  that  the  Negro  as  a  race  is  not  equal  to  the 

21  The  American  Negro,  p.  409. 

22  The  Future  of  the  American  Negro,  p.  26. 


50        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

white  race.  The  Negroes  realize  that  numerically  they  are  the 
weaker  of  the  two  races  except  in  the  " Black  Belt,"  and  intel 
lectually  the  less  developed.  *>ut  who  says  they  will  always 
remain  so?  I  have  very  little  respect  for  the  intelligence  of  the 
man  who  doubts  the  capacity  of  the  Negro  for  improvement  or 
usefulness.  The  trouble  with  some  people  is  they  expect  the 
Negro  to  develop  in  fifty  years  to  the  state  of  civilization  that 
it  has  taken  the  white  man  hundreds  of  years  to  reach.  The 
chief  trouble  we  have  regarding  the  Negro  is  we  have  no  standard 
for  comparison.  Probably,  if  we  knew  the  rate  of  progress  of 
other  primitive  people  we  should  find  the  progress  of  the  Negro 
remarkable. 

The  psychologists  tell  us  that  the  brain  of  the  white  man  is 
heavier  than  the  brain  of  the  Negro  man,  but  the  brain  of  the 
Negro  man  is  hsavier  than  the  brain  of  the  white  woman.  The 
brain  of  the  tribal  African  or  Australian  weighs  less  than  the 
brain  of  the  American  Negro.  Who  knows  how  rapidly  brain 
weight  develops  anyway?  Quite  often  the  foreigner  coming  to 
this  country  will,  in  three  generations,  have  a  change  in  head 
formation  and  an  increase  in  brain  weight.  But,  then,  no  one 
knows  how  much  of  the  brain  we  use  in  thinking. 

When  it  comes  to  comparing  the  white  and  colored  children  in 
schools,  regardless  of  how  the  tests  have  been  made  the  white 
pupils  made  the  best  showing.  It  seems  that  the  Negro  children 
advance  more  rapidly  in  separate  schools  than  in  mixed.  This 
seems  like  an  argument  for  separate  schools.  It  is  possible, 
however,  that  the  system  of  grading  was  not  as  strict  as  in  the 
mixed  schools.  When  I  first  began  to  teach  in  a  mixed  school, 
I  found  that  many  of  the  teachers  had  one  standard  for  the  white 
pupils  .and  a  lower  standard  for  the  colored  pupils.  Some  of 
them  said  the  Negroes  would  never  be  able  to  pass  if  they  held 
them  to  the  same  standard  as  the  white  pupils,  but  I  found  that 
the  Negroes  averaged  very  well  with  the  white  pupils.  The 
superintendent  of  the  city  schools  of  a  certain  city  in  the  North, 
told  me  he  did  not  like  mixed  schools,  that  he  had  been  dealing 
with  mixed  schools  for  twenty-five  years  and  he  had  found  only 
one  colored  student  that  was  worth  " bothering  with."  It  may 
be  that  the  races  will  make  better  advancement  in  separate  schools 
but  I  hardly  think  so.  I  believe  that  education  and  culture  are 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          51 

centripetal  as  well  as  centrifugal  processes.  I  think  the  chief 
cause  of  retardation  of  Negro  pupils  is  their  home,  economic, 
and  social  life.  The  Negro  in  the  North  lacks  incentive.  Very 
little  is  offered  the  educated  Negro  in  the  North.  Most  of  the 
Negroes  are  poor  and  it  is  about  all  many  of  them  can  do  to 
survive  the  economic  conflict  in  the  North.  What  time  they 
have  off  from  work  they  want  to  get  together  and  have  music  and 
dancing  and  a  general  "big  time."  Environment  counts  for 
much  in  the  life  of  the  Negro  student,  but  heredity  also  has  a  part 
to  play  and  it  plays  it  well.  Considering  all  the  disadvantages 
the  Negro  has  had  to  overcome,  it  is  marvelous  how  rapidly  he 
has  developed,  and  how  well  he  holds  his  own  against  the  pro 
gressive  white  race. 

In  a  discussion  with  a  Northern  educator  about  the  change  in 
race  relationship  he  said:  "I  know  you  are  wrong  on  one  part, 
however,  viz.  the  interest  of  the  South  in  the  development  of  the 
Negro.  I  see  no  evidence  in  increased  expenditure  for  education 
—the  one  thing  necessary  of  any  special  interest. "  As  a  reply 
I  wish  to  give  the  figures  of  two  representative  States:  In  com 
paring  the  Negro  school  conditions  in  1910-11  with  1915-16,  in 
ten  typical  counties  in  Virginia,  it  was  found  that  the  number  of 
teachers  had  increased  from  313  to  352.  The  proportion  of  teachers 
to  school  population  was  reduced  from  one  teacher  for  88  children 
to  one  teacher  for  80  children;  the  average  length  of  term  was  in 
creased  from  106  days  to  121  days;  the  amount  spent  for  teachers' 
salaries  was  per  capita  of  school  population  (7  to  20  years) 
increased  from  $1.40  to  $2.01.  In  North  Carolina  the  value  of 
colored  public  school  property  in  1904  was  $237,768;  in  1914  it 
was  $1,021,736.  The  total  amount  spent  for  Negro  public  school 
teachers'  salaries  in  1904  was  $234,625;  in  1914  it  was  $484,114. 
The  average  term  for  Negro  schools  in  1904  was  16  weeks,  in  1914 
it  was  23  weeks.  There  are  now  employed  36  Negro  rural 
supervisors  in  the  State,  and  18  county  teachers'  training  schools, 
have  recently  been  established.  During  the  last  two  years  $8,000 
was  spent  for  building  rural  Negro  school  houses.  In  order  to 
use  this  $8,000  about  $30,000  had  to  be  raised  out  of  the  local  and 
county  funds. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  South  has  spent  more  than  $200,000,- 
000  for  Negro  public  schools  in  the  last  thirty  years,  and  is  now 


52        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

spending  over  $4,000,000  annually  for  the  same  purpose,  most  of 
this,  of  course,  from  white  taxpayers.  In  Delaware  the  public 
school  money  is  proportioned  according  to  the  racial  percentage 
of  taxes.  As  a  result  of  this  policy  the  Negroes  are  not  able  to 
maintain  rural  schools  and  the  children  that  live  in  the  country 
are  thus  deprived  of  an  education.  But  in  the  South  the  money 
is  distributed  according  to  general  population  and  needs.  The 
South  has  and  is  expending  large  sums  of  money  for  the  education 
of  her  Negroes.  I  believe  the  South  is  vitally  interested  in  Negro 
education  and  is  becoming  more  so  every  day.  Dr.  Weatherford 
writes  me:  "I  think  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  Southern 
Border  States  are  making  a  larger  effort  to  help  the  Negro  than 
ever  before.  Virginia,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  all  have 
supervisors  of  rural  schools  for  Negroes,  all  of  them  being 
exceedingly  choice  Southern  white  men  who  are  prominent  in 
educational  work.  In  addition,  there  are  many  good  school 
buildings  being  erected  for  the  colored  schools  and  a  great  deal 
of  general  work  is  being  done.  This  is  just  one  indication  of  the 
increasing  interest  of  these  States. " 

Booker  T.  Washington,  probably,  did  more  to  change  the 
attitude  of  the  South  toward  the  Negro  and  Negro  education  than 
any  one  man.  He  advocated  industrial  education  for  the  Negroes 
and  that  is  the  kind  the  South  believes  in,  for  here  is  where  the 
Negro  has  made  the  greatest  success.  Hampton  and  Tuskegee 
Institutes  and  some  other  schools  have  been  great  forces  in  chang 
ing  sentiment  toward  Negro  education.  At  first,  the  white 
South  looked  upon  Negro  schools  with  suspicion,  but  gradually 
they  have  come  to  accept  them  as  agents  for  good.  The  North 
ern  whites  made  grave  mistakes  in  their  early  efforts  at  educating 
the  Negro.  These  mistakes  caused  the  South  to  become  very 
suspicious  of  the  educated  Negro.  Many  of  them  thought 
education  made  a  criminal  out  of  the  Negro,  but  they  later  found 
this  to  be  untrue.  Dr.  Washington  often  said  in  his  speeches: 
"Not  a  single  graduate  of  the  Hampton  Institute  nor  of  the 
Tuskegee  Institute  can  be  found  to-day  in  any  jail  or  State 
Penitentiary."  The  students  at  Hampton  and  Tuskegee  are 
trained  to  work  and  make  an  honest  living.  An  incident  is  told 
of  two  Tuskegee  students  going  to  a  town  in  Georgia  and  taking 
the  contract  for  a  job  of  plastering.  They  hired  a  white  man  to 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          53 

carry  mortar  for  them  at  a  dollar  per  day  and  when  the  job  was 
finished  they  had  averaged  four  dollars  per  day  each.  It  was 
admitted  to  be  the  best  job  of  plastering  in  the  town  and  the 
white  people  tried  to  get  them  to  stay  there,  but  they  went  back 
to  school  to  complete  their  course.  One  little  incident  as  this 
makes  many  friends  for  a  Negro  school,  and  it  seems  that  about 
every  graduate  of  these  schools  goes  out  advocating  better  race 
relationship.  They  do  nothing  to  offend  the  whites  and  strive 
to  help  their  own  race.  Gradually  they  are  winning  the  friend 
ship  of  the  white  South  by  their  manly,  industrious,  progressive, 
Christian  qualities.  What  would  the  South  be  in  twenty-five 
years  if  she  had  200  or  even  100  schools  like  Hampton  and  Tuske- 
gee,  sending  forth  well  trained  industrious  boys  and  girls?  These 
graduates  are  not  committers  of  crime,  but  the  enemies  of  crime. 
They  are  up-builders  and  not  down-tearers.  How  much  better 
it  is  to  spend  our  money  in  such  institutions  rather  than  in  courts, 
penitentiaries,  jails,  punishing  Negro  criminals!  How  much 
better  it  is  to  spend  $100  toward  educating  an  ambitious  young 
Negro,  than  have  him  become  a  criminal,  a  destroyer  of  property, 
a  murderer  of  human  beings,  and  a  demoralizer  of  society! 

In  the  North  many  of  the  best  educated  and  most  cultured 
Negroes  do  not  seek  to  elevate  the  masses  of  their  race.  The 
existing  conditions  disgust  some  of  them,  as  the  author  of  The 
Autobiography  of  an  Ex-Colored  Man,  so  that  they  curse  every 
drop  of  Negro  blood  that  flows  through  their  veins,  and  eke  out 
an  existence  of  little  worth  to  the  masses  of  their  race.  In  the 
South  the  best  of  the  Negroes  remain  with  their  race  faithfully 
trying  to  elevate  it.  This  class  of  Negroes  coming  in  contact 
with  the  better  class  of  whites  is  bringing  about  a  great  change. 
Leaders  of  both  races  meet  to-day  and  discuss  the  problems  of  the 
two  races,  often  from  the  same  platform.  While  it  was  an  un 
heard  of  thing  a  few  years  ago  for  Negroes  and  whites  to  meet  in 
the  same  building  and  speak  from  the  same  platform,  it  is  a  very 
common  thing  to-day  and  is  done  when  any  subject  is  to  be 
discussed  that  is  of  mutual  interest  to  both  races,  and  done  in 
such  a  way  that  the  Negro  feels  no  humiliation. 

The  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction  Period  left  the  South 
financially  and  economically  bankrupt  and  socially  disorganized. 
From  this  chaotic  condition  she  has  had  to  recuperate.  She  has 


54        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

had  many  differential  and  integral  problems  to  solve,  and  she  has 
many  more  to  solve.  She  is  working  patiently  at  their  solution. 
Just  now  she  is  trying  to  solve  the  great  puzzle  of  what  kind  of  an 
education  is  best  for  the  Negro  child.  She  realizes  that  she 
must  solve  her  problems  herself;  she  knows  not  where  to  turn  for 
help.  The  South  has  received  a  great  deal  of  advice  and  infor 
mation,  regarding  the  Negro,  from  the  North,  especially  the  New 
England  States,  all  of  which  was  worthless.  If  the  white  people 
of  the  North  understand  the  Negro  so  well,  why  is  it  they  become 
so  bitter  against  him  after  a  few  weeks  in  the  South?  If  1,000,- 
000  Negroes  cause  the  North  to  flash  forth  such  vivid  pictures 
of  race  prejudice,  what  would  they  do  in  their  idiosyncrasies  with 
11,000,000  more?  The  Northern  white  man  living  in  the  South 
is  usually  a  bitter  enemy  of  the  Negro. 

I  feel  that  the  South  is  doing  about  all  she  can  toward  the 
education  of  the  Negro.  She  does  not  possess  the  wealth  which 
the  North  possesses.  She  is  burdened  with  taxes.  Three  months 
of  school  burdens  Mississippi  more  than  ten  months  burdens 
Massachusetts.  Of  our  payment  of  pensions — running  up  to 
$130,000,000  a  year — the  South  bears  her  proportion,  though  it 
is  paid  to  men  for  fighting  against  her,  and  she  makes  no  remon 
strance.  Is  it  not  simple  justice,  is  it  not  a  matter  of  national 
conscience  and  honor  that  the  whole  nation  should  help  her  in 
educating  the  future  citizens  of  the  Republic?  I  think  our  school 
system  would  be  more  satisfactory  if  managed  by  the  National 
Government  rather  than  individual  States. 

It  is  true  that  the  Negro  child  does  not  learn  and  develop  as 
rapidly  as  the  white  child,  but  he  is  developing  and  learning  and 
making  progress  all  the  time.  It  is  just  as  essential  for  the  Negro 
to  have  equal  advantages  for  development  as  for  any  other  pros 
pective  citizen.  If  we  hold  a  man  in  a  ditch  we  must  stay  there 
with  him.  When  we  hinder  the  development  of  the  Negro,  we 
diminish  ourselves,  hinder  the  development  of  our  nation,  and 
violate  the  ethics  of  Jesus.  We  should  by  all  means  give  the 
Negro  child  a  chance  to  develop  fully,  for  he  is  to  be  a  citizen 
to-morrow,  and  on  his  training  depends  much  whether  he  will  be 
a  progressive  citizen  or  a  criminal. 


CHAPTER  IV 


RACE  DISTINCTIONS  IN  PLACES  OF  PUBLIC 
ACCOMMODATION 

It  was  difficult  to  find  an  all-comprehensive  heading  for  this 
chapter.  However,  I  think  the  heading  will  give  some  idea  of 
what  the  chapter  contains,  and  I  also  feel  that  it  is  broad  enough 
to  cover  the  subjects  which  I  wish  to  discuss  under  it.  In 
this  chapter  I  wish  to  examine  race  prejudice  as  it  is  portrayed 
in  our  dealing  with  the  Negro  in  railroad  and  street  cars;  hotels 
and  restaurants;  theatres  and  motion  picture  shows;  barbershops 
and  bootblack  stands;  skating-rinks  and  pool-rooms;  parks,  etc. 

1.  The  first  "Jim  Crow"  cars  were  run  in  Massachusetts  in 
1841.  In  1866  Massachusetts  made  it  unlawful  to  discriminate 
against  any  one  on  account  of  color  in  public  conveyances.  The 
term  "Jim  Crow"  was  used  to  designate  cars  set  apart  wholly 
for  the  use  of  Negroes.  Massachusetts  had  her  "  Jim  Crow  "  cars 
for  a  long  time  to  herself.  It  was  not  until  1865,  when  Florida 
and  Mississippi  passed  their  laws,  that  "Jim  Crow"  cars  made 
their  appearance  in  the  South.  These  two  States  were  followed 
by  Texas  the  next  year. 

About  this  time  a  reaction  seems  to  have  set  in  against  "Jim 
Crow"  cars.  Whether  this  was  due  to  Reconstruction  influences 
or  other  forces  I  am  unable  to  say,  but  in  1870  Georgia  passed  a 
law  prohibiting  any  discrimination  against  Negroes  on  cars.  The 
next  year  Texas  repealed  her  "Jim  Crow"  law  and  made  it 
unlawful  to  make  such  discriminations.  Louisiana,  in  1873, 
passed  a  law  against  discrimination  on  cars.  She  was  followed 
by  Arkansas  the  next  year.  Before  1875,  I  think  we  are  safe  in 
saying,  Negroes  were  often  ejected  from  cars  and  refused  passage 
in  many  of  the  Northern  and  Western  States  as  well  as  the  South 
ern  States.  This  is  true  in  States  like  New  York,  Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Illinois  and  Iowa;  and  it  often  happened 
in  cities  as  in  San  Francisco,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston, 
and  Chicago. 

55 


56          Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

With  the  exception  of  transient  "Jim  Crow"  laws  of  Florida, 
Mississippi  and  Texas  (1865-67),  for  many  years  after  the  Civil 
War  whites  and  Negroes  were  crowded  together  in  the  same 
coaches.  It  was  found  from  experience,  according  to  the  state 
ments  of  some,  that  this  commingling  of  the  two  races  was  the 
cause  of  frequent  breach  of  the  peace  and  not  seldom,  murder. 
The  fault  seems  to  have  been  sometimes  with  one  race  and  some 
times  with  the  other.  Whether  this  commingling  of  the  two 
races  in  the  cars  was  a  cause  of  crime  is  an  open  question.  It 
was  probably  the  cause  of  some  crime  for  when  the  lower  classes 
of  these  two  groups  come  in  close  proximity  there  is  usually  a 
clash.  However,  it  gave  room  for  discussions  and  theories,  and 
was  probably  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  our  present  "  Jim  Crow" 
laws. 

Tennessee  was  the  first  State  to  adopt  a  comprehensive  law 
separating  Negro  and  white  passengers  on  railroad  cars.  This 
law  was  passed  in  1881.  For  six  years  the  other  States  waited  to 
see  how  the  law  would  work  in  Tennessee.  Florida  followed 
Tennessee  in  1887;  Mississippi,  1888;  Texas,  1889;  Louisiana, 
1890;  Alabama,  Kentucky,  Arkansas  and  Georgia,  1891.  Then 
there  was  another  period  of  hesitancy,  and  it  was  eight  years 
later  when  South  Carolina  passed  her  law.  North  Carolina 
passed  the  law  in  1899;  Virginia,  1900;  Maryland,  1904;  and 
Oklahoma,  1907.  Missouri  and  West  Virginia  are  yet  without 
any  "Jim  Crow"  laws,  athough  there  has  been  some  agitation  for 
the  law  in  both,  especially  in  West  Virginia. 

Most  of  these  States  differ  some  in  the  letter  of  their  "Jim 
Crow"  laws.  Oklahoma  and  Texas  forbid  the  railroads  carrying 
sleeping  and  chair  cars  jointly  for  the  races.  Texas,  however, 
insists  on  equal  accommodations  for  the  two  races.  The  two 
races  have  to  be  separated  in  Pullman  cars  in  Georgia,  but  the 
railroads  do  not  have  to  carry  Pullman  cars  for  Negroes.  The 
"Jim  Crow"  law  does  not  apply  to  Pullman  cars  on  through 
express  trains  in  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina,  nor  to 
through  vestibule  trains  in  South  Carolina.  Maryland,  Okla 
homa,  Texas  and  Virginia  do  not  require  freight  trains  carrying 
passengers  to  have  separate  coaches  for  the  races.  South 
Carolina  exempts  the  narrow-gauge  roads.  In  North  Carolina, 
the  railroad  commissioners  have  power  to  exempt  branch  lines 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          57 

and  narrow-gauge  roads  from  "Jim  Crow"  requirements.  All 
the  States  make  provisions  for  colored  nurses  and  servants 
accompanying  white  people. 

In  most  of  the  Southern  States  the  separation  of  the  races  is 
also  required  on  boats  carrying  passengers  within  the  waters  of 
the  State.  Each  State  law  may  differ,  but  in  most  of  them  a 
provision  is  made  for  the  separation. 

Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Oklahoma  and  South  Carolina  require 
separate  waiting  rooms  for  the  Negroes  and  the  whites.  The 
waiting  rooms  are  usually  in  the  same  building,  side  by  side,  but 
separated  in  small  stations  by  a  wall,  in  many  of  the  larger  ones 
by  a  "fence."  The  railroads  have  usually  found  it  better  to 
build  separate  waiting  rooms  in  the  Southern  States  where  the 
laws  do  not  require  this.  There  are,  however,  many  small 
waiting  rooms  in  several  States  in  the  South,  where  there  is  no 
separation  of  the  races;  and  in  some  of  the  larger  towns,  as 
Covington,  Ky.,  there  are  no  separate  waiting  rooms.  In  most 
of  the  stations,  which  have  separate  waiting  rooms,  the  room  for 
Negroes  is  equal  to  the  one  for  the  whites.  The  Union  Station, 
10th  and  Broadway,  Louisville,  Ky.,  has  the  poorest  accommo 
dations  for  the  Negroes  in  comparison  with  the  accommodations 
for  the  whites  that  I  have  found  in  my  travels.  Here  the  Negroes 
go  through  the  main  waiting  room  where  the  whites  remain,  but 
the  Negroes  are  put  off  into  a  small  room  in  one  corner.  They 
are  permitted  to  go  out  into  the  main  waiting  room  for  tickets 
and  water  but  cannot  remain  out  there. 

The  "Jim  Crow"  cars  come  under  no  one  general  description. 
I  have  occasionally  seen  a  car  for  colored  people  as  clean  as  any 
day  coach  for  whites.  But  many  of  them  are  far  below  the 
average  car  for  white  people.  Often  the  Negroes  are  given  a 
whole  car  or  more  than  one  car  to  themselves  on  the  train- 
according  to  the  demands.  But  on  some  trains  where  there  are 
not  many  Negroes  they  are  given  the  section  of  the  baggage  car 
which  is  used  in  the  North  on  branch  lines  as  a  smoker.  The 
"Jim  Crow"  cars  are  hitched  close  to  the  engine.  Naturally, 
this  would  cause  them  to  catch  more  smoke  and  soot.  It  seems 
that  the  railroad  officials  put  forth  very  little  effort  to  keep  the 
Negro  coaches  clean  or  sanitary,  and  they  seem  not  to  regard 
order  or  decency  as  essential  for  Negro  coaches.  In  these  coaches 


58        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

the  Negroes  are  all  thrown  together,  the  educated,  cultured, 
refined,  wealthy,  with  the  coarse,  rough,  ignorant,  poor  and 
vulgar.  Of  course  the  same  classes  of  whites  ride  together  in  the 
same  coaches,  but  in  the  white  coaches  roughness  is  suppressed 
and  order  maintained.  In  the  Negro  coaches,  the  rough  element 
often  smoke,  drink,  curse,  and  fight  to  their  own  satisfaction, 
fight  in  the  presence  of  the  refined  members  of  their  race,  and 
often  without  any  interference  of  the  officials.  If  the  cultured 
Negro  woman  has  to  make  a  trip  in  one  of  these  coaches  she  often 
reaches  her  destination,  sick  and  discouraged,  and  with  her  dress 
and  hat  ruined.  Most  of  the  day  coaches  for  white  people  on 
Southern  trains  are  not  fit  for  decent  people  to  ride  in. 

Some  of  the  trains  do  not  carry  Pullman  cars  for  Negroes,  so  if 
a  refined  Negro  woman  wishes  or  has  to  make  a  trip  during  the 
night,  she  is  forced  to  go  in  a  "Jim  Crow"  day  coach,  sit  up  all 
night  in  surroundings  which  are  far  from  being  conducive  to  clean 
liness  and  good  morals.  Yet,  we  say  "Niggers  are  dirty"  and 
force  them  altogether,  both  educated  and  illiterate,  refined  and 
rough,  moral  and  immoral  with  little  or  no  regard  or  protection 
for  the  better  element  of  the  race.  Consequently,  we  know  little 
about  the  educated,  refined,  prosperous  members  of  their  race. 
As  fast  as  they  enter  the  better  class,  they  withdraw  into  a 
world  of  their  own — a  world  which  lies  all  about  us  white  people, 
yet  of  whose  existence  we  are  scarcely  aware.  It  is  largely  the 
inefficient,  the  failures,  or  the  immature  and  untrained  who 
remain  with  us.  We  should  see  in  the  Negro,  first  of  all,  deeper 
than  all,  a  man  made  in  the  image  of  God  as  truly  as  we  our 
selves.  In  some,  less  developed,  to  be  sure,  but  whatever  grows 
is  growable,  and  anything  which  grows  cannot  develop  normally 
and  healthily,  cannot  do  its  best  as  long  as  it  is  crowded  down 
into  unwholesome  environment  by  a  stronger  force. 

If  all  the  Negroes  were  neat  and  orderly  and  all  the  white  men 
were  gentlemen  and  all  the  white  women  were  ladies,  the  tacit 
recognition  of  the  color  line  as  on  the  streets,  in  the  stores,  in  the 
court-room,  or  at  the  ball  game  would  obtain  without  law.  But 
we  are  far  from  that  and  until  we  approach  it  far  nearer  than 
what  we  are  it  seems  .necessary  to  have  legal  separation  to 
establish  formal  lines  in  order  to  save  friction,  protect  the  Negro 
en  route,  and  keep  him  out  of  the  courts.  Probably,  if  we  had 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          59 

never  begun  this  separation  we  would  be  getting  on  just  as  well 
to-day  as  we  are.  I  do  not,  however,  believe  the  Negro  objects 
very  seriously  to  legal  separation,  but  he  does  object  to  paying 
first  class  fare  and  getting  second  and  third  class  service.  We 
cannot  blame  him  for  this;  he  would  not  be  human  if  he  did  not 
object.  I  do  not  think  the  agitation  for  strict  separation  is  half 
as  keen  as  it  would  appear  on  the  surface.  Sometimes  Negroes 
ride  all  day  and  all  night  through  Southern  States  in  Pullman 
cars  with  whites,  their  presence  known  to  all  the  white  passengers, 
none  of  whom  voice  any  objections.  I  have  traveled  through 
Southern  States  several  times  in  Pullman  cars  in  which  there 
were  some  Negroes  and  I  never  heard  any  of  the  white  passengers 
voice  any  objections.  Naturally,  we  would  not  expect  the 
Negroes  to  object,  as  they  are  getting  equal  accommodations 
for  their  money,  and  the  class  of  whites  who  ride  in  Pullman  cars 
would  not  be  expected  to  object,  since  it  is  chiefly  the  lower  class 
of  both  races  that  causes  trouble  in  the  South. 

Probably  we  would  be  relieved  of  many  of  our  difficulties  if  we 
should  adopt  the  European  system  of  car  service.  As  it  is,  we  are 
penalizing  the  better  class  of  Negroes.  We  condemn  them  as  a 
race  for  not  rising,  but  when  the  better  class,  who  are  rising, 
want  better  advantages  and  services  we  say  they  are  "getting 
too  big, "  However,  I  do  not  believe  the  remedy  lies  in  a  repeal 
of  the  "Jim  Crow"  laws,  but  rather  in  the  proper  education  of 
both  races,  in  the  spread  of  the  sentiment  of  fair  play,  and  in  the 
persistent  and  consistent  insistence  upon  high  moral  standards. 
We  can  give  the  Negro  equal  accommodations  and  equal  advan 
tage  on  fast  trains,  Pullman  cars,  etc.,  and  still  be  separate,  but 
I  do  not  believe  he  will  have  it  until  public  sentiment  forces  the 
railroad  companies  to  do  so.  Until  the  lower  classes  of  both 
races  are  developed  far  above  their  present  status,  it  seems 
necessary  for  some  legal  separation.  But  these  classes  are 
developing  and  I  feel  that  in  the  distant  future  our  religious, 
ethical,  and  social  ideas  may  be  quite  different  from  what  they 
are  to-day.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  possible  for  us  to  develop 
a  caste  system  as  in  India;  and  it  is  possible  for  us  to  call  it 
Christian.  But  as  long  as  we  have  the  "Jim  Crow"  coaches  we 
should  not  use  them  as  a  means  of  retarding  the  progress  and 
development  of  the  Negro  race. 


60        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

As  to  whether  the  "Jim  Crow"  legislation  will  spread  beyond 
its  present  boundry,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  The  great  influx  of 
Southern  Negroes  into  the  North  for  the  last  three  years  will 
doubtless  call  forth  some  radical  anti-Negro  legislation  in  the 
near  future.  The  probability  is  that  the  "Jim  Crow"  car  may 
be  part  of  it.  I  heard  a  prominent  Negro  educator  lecture  some 
time  ago.  In  his  speech  he  said  the  North  had  gone  back  fifty 
years  in  her  treatment  of  the  Negro,  and  he  would  not  be  sur 
prised  to  see  "Jim  Crow"  cars  running  through  Pennsylvania 
in  ten  years.  A  prominent  Methodist  minister  told  me  he 
thought  they  should  have  "Jim  Crow"  cars  in  his  State — Dela 
ware.  I  have  heard  dozens  of  white  people  tell  of  the  trouble 
they  had  on  cars  with  "coons"  and  express  a  desire  for  separa 
tion  on  the  cars.  There  is  a  strong  tendency  and  desire  toward 
separation  in  the  Northern  States  and  it  may  lead  to  "Jim  Crow" 
cars.  * 

Early  one  morning  some  time  ago,  I  left  Virginia  traveling  all 
day  through  West  Virginia  and  Ohio.  It  gave  me  a  splendid 
opportunity  to  see  something  of  the  relationship  between  the 
Negroes  and  whites  on  the  trains  in  these  two  States.  Early  in 
the  morning  we  crossed  the  Virginia  line;  the  porter  came 
through  the  car  and  removed  the  "white"  sign,  but  no  Negroes 
entered.  Later,  at  one  of  the  stations,  the  conductor  stepped 
away  to  transact  some  business  and  while  he  was  away  two 
Negro  girls  came  into  the  car.  They  took  a  seat  together  near  the 
front  of  the  car.  All  day  the  seat  in  front  of  them  and  the  seat 
immediately  behind  them  remained  vacant,  though  the  other 
seats  were  usually  about  full.  After  we  had  stopped  at  two  or 
three  more  stations  and  no  more  Negroes  entered  I  wondered 
why.  I  noticed  and  found  that  the  Negro  porter  stood  at  the 
entrance  of  the  first  car  and  showed  the  Negroes  into  that  car. 

Some  months  ago  I  was  in  Cincinnati.  In  the  station  I 
noticed  that  all  the  Negroes  sat  on  one  side.  As  I  passed  through 
the  gate  to  catch  a  train  going  South,  I  noticed  several  Negroes 
passing  through  also.  Now  I  had  to  see  what  would  happen 
when  the  Negroes  went  to  get  on  the  train.  I  stopped  a  while 
by  the  side  of  the  car  and  observed  that  a  Negro  porter  was 
sending  all  the  Negroes  into  the  front  car.  I  also  observed  that 
no  Negroes  entered  the  Pullman  cars.  I  found  out  that  the 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          61 

ticket  agent  refused  to  sell  Pullman  tickets  to  Negroes  on  trains 
going  South  from  Cincinnati. 

These  are  some  of  the  sentiments  and  some  of  the  things  which 
are  at  work  in  the  North,  where  "Jim  Crow  "cars  are  not  legal 
ized.  In  the  South,  there  are  so  many  low  class  Negroes  and 
so  many  of  them  on  trains  that  separation  seems  necessary  at 
present  at  least,  but  in  the  North,  most  of  the  Negroes  are  of  a 
better  class — a  class  far  superior  to  the  ordinary  Negro  found  in 
the  South.  In  the  North  it  is  pure  race  prejudice  that  causes 
separation.  It  is  not  because  the  Negroes  are  so  low  in  morals, 
rough,  poorly  dressed  or  illiterate,  for  they  are  not.  However,' 
there  is  a  strong  desire  for  separation  and  it  may  soon  be  legal. 

On  boats  also  the  desire  for  separation  manifests  itself.  Some 
boats  have  a  Negro  section,  others  have  an  invisible  line  for  the 
colored  and  white  passengers.  On  the  boats  between  Baltimore 
and  Washington  a  Negro  is  not  allowed  to  rent  a  state-room 
unless  it  is  either  by  the  hot  smelling  pantry,  the  noisy  paddle- 
box,  or  under  the  booming  whistle,  where  it  is  almost  impossible 
for  him  to  sleep.  Yet  he  has  to  pay  the  same  price  as  a  white 
man  pays  for  the  good  rooms. 

Separation  of  the  two  races  in  street  cars  appeared  in  the  South 
in  1891,  when  Georgia  passed  her  law  of  separation.  Louisiana 
followed  in  1902;  Mississippi,  1904;  Tennessee  and  Florida,  1905; 
Virginia,  1906;  North  Carolina  and  Oklahoma,  1907.  In 
practically  all  of  the  Southern  States  the  two  races  are  separated 
in  street  cars.  In  part  of  them  it  is  a  State  law;  in  others  it  is 
left  to  the  cities  and  towns  to  pass  such  regulations  as  they  see 
fit.  In  some  cities,  as  Louisville,  the  act  failed  to  pass.  The 
attempt  to  separate  the  two  races  in  the  street  cars  in  Washington 
City  aroused  the  animosity  of  the  Negroes  to  boiling  heat. 

In  all  the  Northern  cities  street  cars  are  open  to  both  races 
without  any  legal  separation.  Nevertheless,  Negroes  sometimes 
find  it  dangerous  to  ride  with  white  people.  In  Philadelphia, 
Chester,  New  York  and  other  Northern  cities  street  cars  are 
occasionally  attacked  by  white  boys  and  men  and  the  Negroes 
beaten.  Indeed,  such  shouts  as:  "Kill  the  Negro!"  "Lynch 
the  Negro!"  are  not  uncommon  in  the  North  to-day.  A  Negro 
lurched  against  a  woman  who  held  to  a  strap  on  a  trolley  car  in 
New  York  City.  She  told  him  to  be  more  careful  with  himself. 


62        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

He  struck  her,  breaking  her  nose  and  blackening  her  eyes.  A 
mob  of  men  tried  to  lynch  him  but  he  was  rescued  by  the  police. 
Colored  people  and  white  seldom  sit  together  in  seats  in  cars  if 
there  are  any  vacant  seats,  and  I  have  heard  hundreds  of  com 
plaints  about  Negro  men  pushing  themselves  in  before  white 
women  and  keeping  their  seats  and  letting  white  women  stand 
up  on  crowded  cars.  The  crowded  street  car  is  often  a  source 
of  friction  between  the  whites  and  Negroes  in  Northern  cities. 

2.  We  have  seen  that  the  Negro  is  somewhat  handicapped  in 
traveling  on  railroads  and  street  cars.  When  it  comes  to  hotels 
and  restaurants  we  find  him  much  more  handicapped.  In  the 
South  the  Negro  understands  that  he  must  go  to  the  hotels, 
boarding-houses  and  restaurants  maintained  for  Negroes.  There 
are  enough  Negroes  in  the  South  to  make  it  possible  to  maintain 
hotels,  restaurants,  etc.,  in  almost  every  town  for  Negroes.  But 
in  the  North  there  are  not  so  many  Negroes,  and  not  so  many  of 
them  traveling  as  in  the  South.  Then  according  to  law,  in  the 
North,  they  are  supposed  to  be  equal  to  the  whites  and  have  the 
same  privileges.  But  what  are  the  conditions  in  the  North? 
For  convenience  I  treat  hotels,  restaurants,  etc.,  together. 

In  Baltimore,  the  Negro  must  have  a  separate  bar,  he  cannot 
go  to  the  white  man's  hotel,  restaurant,  or  soda  fountain.  In 
Milwaukee,  a  Negro,  after  sitting  in  a  restaurant  for  forty 
minutes,  was  told  that  he  could  not  be  served  because  he  was  a 
Negro.  A  Negro  went  into  a  restaurant  in  Detroit  and  asked 
for  accommodations.  The  clerk  told  him  he  could  not  be  served 
on  the  restaurant  side,  but  if  he  would  go  on  the  saloon  side  he 
would  be  served.  A  Negro  was  serving  on  the  jury  in  a  town 
in  Iowa.  The  bailiff  had  arranged  with  a  boarding-house  to 
serve  meals.  But  when  the  jurors  went  for  their  meals,  the 
boarding-house  keeper  refused  to  permit  the  Negro  to  sit  at  the 
same  table  with  the  white  men.  A  keeper  of  an  ice-cream 
parlor  in  New  York  charged  a  Negro  a  dollar  for  a  ten-cent  plate 
of  cream.  The  judge  declared  that  ice-cream  parlors  do  not 
come  under  the  list  of  places  of  public  entertainment  and  amuse 
ment. 

Practically  all  Northern  States  have  laws  forbidding  any  dis 
crimination  between  the  races,  but  racial  adjustments  are  not 
determined  by  laws.  Many  discriminations  are  made  daily  in 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          63 


1C 


defiance  of  the  laws,  because  the  white  people  know  that  publL 
sentiment  and  the  courts  are  on  their  side  and  they  will  win  if  a 
case  is  carried  into  court,  and  the  Negroes  know,  by  experience 
that  they  will  lose  if  they  carry  the  case  to  court.  Up  to  a  few 
years  ago  the  Negroes  gained  most  of  their  cases  in  courts,  but 
that  time  has  passed. 

There  are  many  hotels  and  restaurants  through  the  North 
where  it  is  known  that  Negroes  will  not  be  served.  In  other 
restaurants  the  Negro  is  ignored;  if  he  complains,  it  is  explained 
as  an  oversight.  To  save  his  feelings  he  does  not  go  again  to 
that  restaurant.  In  many  restaurants  the  waiters  put  a  spoonful 
of  pepper  into  the  milk  and  a  spoonful  of  salt  into  the  coffee  sold 
to  a  Negro;  or  charge  him  five  times  the  regular  price  for  a  sand 
wich,  and  give  him  a  glass  of  dish-water  to  drink.  I  know  of 
no  first-class  restaurant  in  any  Northern  city  that  will  serve 
Negroes.  I  have  asked  many  of  the  proprietors  how  they  kept 
the  Negroes  out.  The  common  reply  was,  "Well  you  know 
according  to  law  we  can't  refuse  to  sell  to  them  if  they  insist,  but 
we  charge  them  so  much  that  we  are  not  bothered  with  them." 
The  Negro  pays  one  dollar  for  a  ten-cent  plate  of  ice  cream  and 
two  dollars  and  a  half  for  a  fifty-cent  dinner.  But  some  of  the 
restaurant  keepers  are  now  bold  enough  to  tell  the  Negroes  to  go 
on  some  where  else.  I  was  standing  near  the  entrance  of  a 
restaurant  in  a  city  in  Pennsylvania.  I  saw  two  well  dressed 
Negroes  start  to  enter.  Just  then  the  proprietor  said  to  them: 
"We  don't  serve  Negroes  here,  you  can  find  a  place  on  down  the 
street."  It  is  almost  universally  agreed  that  these  discrimina 
tions  are  increasing  every  year. 

In  several  towns  in  Kentucky,  as  well  as  some  of  the  other 
Southern  Border  States,  I  found  Negroes  and  whites  being  served 
in  the  same  restaurants.  In  some  of  the  cheaper  restaurants  the 
Negroes  and  whites  sit  where  they  pleased ;  in  others,  the  colored 
people  use  one  side  and  the  white  people  the  other;  and  in  others 
the  colored  people  are  served  through  the  back  way.  Many 
Negroes  run  restaurants  for  white  people. 

Race  prejudice  has  developed  so  in  the  North  that  many  of  the 
best  men's  furnishing  stores,  ladies'  furnishing  stores,  shoe  stores, 
etc.,  will  not  serve  Negroes.  I  have  observed  in  several  towns 
and  cities  in  the  North,  that  the  best  stores,  where  the  wealthy 


64         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

white  people  trade,  Negroes  are  not  served  under  any  considera 
tion,  even  at  extortionate  prices.  They  say  white  people, 
especially  white  ladies  do  not  wish  to  come  in  their  stores  when 
they  see  Negroes  being  served.  I  do  not  know  a  case  of  such 
discrimination  in  the  South.  In  Louisville,  as  in  other  towns 
in  the  Southern  Border  States,  I  found  that  Negroes  could  go 
into  the  stores  and  buy  any  thing  they  had  money  to  pay  for 
excepting  some  of  the  best  drug-stores,  where  they  were  excluded 
from  the  fountains.  In  some  of  the  stores,  however,  they  will 
not  try  on  shoes  or  gloves  for  a  Negro. 

3.  In  the  North  when  the  Negro  wishes  to  pass  away  some 
time  in  amusement  or  recreation,  he  is  often  perplexed  to  know 
what  to  do,  owing  to  the  uncertain  attitude  of  public  sentiment. 
According  to  law  he  has  an  equal  right  with  white  people  to  all 
places  of  amusement  and  recreation,  as  they  are  places  of  public 
accommodation.  But  according  to  public  sentiment  he  does  not 
usually  have  this  right.  He  may  be  admitted;  he  may  have  to 
pay  an  advanced  price;  or  he  may  be  turned  away  with  an  insult. 

When  the  Negro  wishes  to  go  to  the  theatre  or  motion  picture 
show,  he  hesitates  for  he  does  not  know  what  will  take  place  after 
he  gets  there.  Of  course,  practically  all  the  high  class  theatres 
and  motion  pictures  shows  in  the  North  exclude  Negroes.  How 
ever,  there  are  certain  second  and  third  class  shows  which  pre 
fer  to  admit  Negroes  at  advanced  prices  rather  than  exclude  them 
altogether.  If  they  admit  them  at  an  advanced  price  they  are 
not  liable  to  have  a  suit  in  court.  To  be  sure,  the  Negro  gener 
ally  loses  in  court;  still  there  are  certain  disadvantages  attached 
to  having  a  suit  in  court  even  if  one  is  sure  of  winning.  The 
higher  class  shows  will  endure  a  suit  before  they  will  admit 
Negroes.  This  attitude  is  more  prominent  in  the  Northern 
States  near  the  border  than  in  those  farther  South. 

A  colored  woman  was  refused  tickets  to  a  theatre  in  Illinois. 
She  then  had  a  white  man  buy  the  tickets  for  her  and  her 
husband,  but  when  they  presented  their  tickets  they  were  re 
fused  admission.  In  Kansas  City,  a  Negro,  mistaken  for  a  white 
man  by  the  clerk  in  the  box-office,  bought  a  seat  in  the  orchestra 
of  the  theatre.  When  he  presented  his  ticket  the  usher  refused 
to  permit  him  to  occupy  the  seat  called  for,  but  offered  him  a 
balcony  seat  in  exchange.  He  carried  his  case  to  court  and  lost. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States         65 

A  Negro  brought  suit  against  a  theatre  company  in  Cincinnati 
for  refusing  to  sell  him  a  ticket  to  the  parquet  section  on  account 
of  his  color.  The  lower  court  allowed  the  Negro  damage,  but 
the  circuit  court  reversed  the  decision  on  the  technicality  that  the 
Negro  did  not  show  that  the  company  had  instructed  the  ticket 
agent  to  refuse  tickets  to  members  of  his  race. 

In  this  connection  I  wish  to  relate  some  of  the  experiences  of 
four  Negroes  who  were  in  a  class  with  me  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.  All  were  mulattoes.  Two  were  men  and  two 
were  women.  One  of  the  men  was  from  Jamaica,  the  other  from 
Virginia.  Both  were  ministers.  They  said  they  could  walk 
down  Woodland  Avenue  and  come  to  a  motion  picture  show, 
read  the  sign  "5c. ",  but  when  they  went  to  buy  tickets  the  price 
suddenly  went  up  and  it  was  worth  just  five  times  as  much  for 
them  to  see  the  show  as  for  white  people,  for  they  had  to  pay 
twenty-five  cents  each.  But  when  they  came  to  the  main  part 
of  the  city  it  was  almost  impossible  for  them  to  get  tickets  at  any 
price.  The  Negro  from  Virginia  said  he  was  going  back  South 
for  he  received  much  better  treatment  in  the  South  than  he  did 
in  the  North. 

The  other  two  were  highly  educated,  cultured  girls,  who 
had  traveled  extensively  in  Europe.  They  said  that  often  they 
could  not  get  to  see  the  shows  for  any  amount  of  money.  If  they 
went  to  buy  tickets  themselves  they  were  refused,  and  if  they 
telephoned  for  tickets  or  got  some  white  person  to  buy  the 
tickets  for  them,  when  they  got  there,  sometimes  they  were 
not  permitted  to  enter;  at  other  times  they  were  told  that  they 
had  secured  tickets  in  the  " white  section,"  and  could  not  be 
permitted  to  occupy  them,  but  could  have  seats  in  exchange  in 
the  gallery— " Nigger  heaven." 

I  have  on  many  occasions  been  to  the  best  theatres  and  motion 
picture  shows  in  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  other  cities  in  the 
North,  but  I  do  not  recall  ever  seeing  a  Negro  present.  In 
Chester,  Pennsylvania,  some  of  the  theatres  have  recently  estab 
lished  a  separate  section  for  Negroes.  On  the  other  hand, 
Negroes  go  to  the  best  theatres  in  such  cities  as  Louisville.  I 
have  seen  them  many  times  in  Macauley's  Theatre.  And  the 
Negroes  can  rent  any  of  the  theatres  for  commencements  and 
other  public  exercises,  if  the  whites  are  not  using  them.  In  some 


66         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

of  the  cheaper  motion  picture  shows  in  Covington,  and  some 
other  places,  the  Negroes  and  whites  all  sit  together. 

When  we  consider  it  from  a  business  point  of  view,  we  cannot 
blame  the  owners  of  theatres  and  motion  picture  shows  for  their 
treatment  of  the  Negro.  Northern  people,  especially  the  upper 
class,  are  far  more  opposed  to  sitting  beside  a  Negro  than  the 
average  Southerner  supposes.  It  is  simply  a  matter  of  business 
that  causes  them  to  exclude  Negroes  or  give  them  gallery  seats. 
If  they  admit  Negroes  they  lose  many  of  their  white  patrons, 
and  this  group  they  cannot  afford  to  lose. 

Neither  can  we  blame  the  Negroes  for  wanting  to  go  to  these 
shows.  The  play  is  advertised  to  arouse  the  curiosity  of  the 
passerby.  The  Negro  is  as  much  aroused  as  the  white  person 
and  has  the  same  desire  to  go  and  see.  Negroes,  as  a  rule,  do  not 
wish  to  be  intruders,  but  unless  they  "butt  in"  they  do  not  get  to 
see  any  plays  or  shows  in  most  Northern  cities.  In  practically 
all  the  towns  in  the  South,  Negroes  either  have  theatres  and 
"movies"  of  their  own,  or  some  provision  is  made  for  them  to  go 
to  the  white  theatre  or  "movie."  The  privileges  which  are 
granted  the  Negroes  in  the  South  are  well  understood  by  both 
groups,  and  the  white  people  seem  just  as  much  adverse  to 
usurping  the  privileges  of  the  Negroes  as  the  Negroes  are  them 
selves.  But  in  the  North  it  is  hard  for  the  Negroes  to  know  just 
what  privileges  are  granted  them.  A  Southern  Negro  traveling 
in  the  North  said  to  me:  "In  the  South  we  have  our  place,  every 
body  knows  where  it  is,  and  no  one  takes  it  from  us.  But  in  the 
North,  if  we  have  a  place,  no  one  seems  to  know  where  it  is. " 

4.  Barbershops  and  bootblack  stands  are  some  more  places  of 
public  accommodation  where  race  prejudice  is  making  headway. 

In  the  South  there  are  barbershops  run  by  white  men  for  white 
men,  barbershops  run  by  Negroes  for  the  accommodation  of 
white  men,  and  barbershops  run  by  Negroes  for  the  accommoda 
tion  of  Negro  men.  Often  both  white  and  Negro  barbers  work 
in  the  same  shop  side  by  side.  In  the  North  we  find  some 
similar  arrangement.  The  difference  being  that  in  the  North 
Negroes  are  supposed  to  get  accommodations  in  any  barbershop; 
and  but  few  Negroes  ever  get  the  chance  to  shave  white  men  or 
cut  their  hair.  There  are  not  many  Negro  barbers  in  the  North 
and  their  number  is  fast  diminishing.  They  have  lost  their 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  nd  Northern  States  67 

position  through  prejudice  and  inefficiency.  To-day  the  white 
American,  German,  Austrian,  Italian,  with  the  other  foreigners 
have  their  trade. 

I  know  of  no  barbershop  operated  by  white  men  where  a 
Negro  can  get  accommodations.  The  Negro  who  wants  a  shave 
had  better  carry  his  razor  along  or  seek  the  slums  or  out-skirts 
for  a  Negro  barbershop.  The  barbers  tell  me  that  when  a  Negro 
comes  in  and  insists  on  accommodations,  they  charge  him  a 
dollar  and  a  half  for  a  shave  and  two  dollars  and  a  half  for  a  hair 
cut.  He  never  comes  again. 

Race  prejudice  even  goes  farther  in  the  North  than  a  white 
barber  shaving  a  Negro.  One  day  I  was  walking  down  the 
street  in  a  Northern  city  with  a  New  Yorker.  I  asked  him  if  he 
ever  had  a  Negro  shave  him.  He  replied:  "No,  if  I  never  get 
a  shave  until  I  get  a  Negro  to  shave  me  I  will  never  have  another 
the  rest  of  my  life. "  It  took  some  time  to  convince  him  that  I 
never  made  any  difference,  and  at  my  home  in  the  South,  white 
men  get  Negroes  to  shave  them  just  the  same  as  they  do  white 
men,  and  as  far  as  I  knew  no  one  ever  thought  of  making  any 
difference  unless  one  did  better  work  than  the  other;  and  that 
in  some  barbershops  white  and  colored  barbers  worked  side  by 
side  in  the  same  shop.  I  thought  his  case  an  exception,  but  I 
later  found  that  many  Northern  people  take  the  same  attitude 
toward  the  Negro  barber.  A  "D.D.,"  who  is  well  known 
through  the  North  and  West,  and  known  in  the  South  by  his 
books,  told  me  he  would  not  have  a  Negro  shave  him,  and  he 
knew  plenty  of  white  men  who  were  just  like  him  in  that  respect. 
He  gave  as  the  reason,  that  Negroes  have  so  many  skin  diseases. 
But  I  had  a  feeling  that  there  was  some  race  prejudice  behind  it 
even  though  he  was  a  "D.  D."  and  of  English  ancestry. 

In  the  South  the  Negroes  and  the  white  boys  are  the  principal 
"shoeshines."  In  the  North  the  Negro  has  lost  this  job,  and 
now  it  is  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  Italians  and  Greeks.  While  the 
Negro  polished  shoes  in  the  North  there  was  some  prejudice 
against  him.  I  had  several  Northern  men  tell  me  that  they 
would  not  have  a  Negro  to  polish  their  shoes.  Even  the  Italians 
sometimes  refuse  to  shine  a  Negro's  shoes.  I  have  seen  them 
refuse,  and  again  I  have  seen  them  make  the  Negroes  wait  until 
all  the  white  people  were  served.  It  is  very  common  in  the 


68        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

South  to  see  Negroes  and  whites  polishing  shoes  at  the  same  stand. 
I  have  seen  them  working  side  by  side  even  as  far  North  as 
Louisville. 

In  1901,  in  Rochester,  New  York,  a  bootblack  refused  to  black 
the  shoes  of  a  Negro.  The  New  York  law  requires  free  and 
equal  accommodations  in  hotels  and  "  other  places  of  public 
accommodations."  The  municipal  court  of  Rochester  gave 
judgment  to  the  Negro.  The  county  court  reversed  the 
decision.  The  appellate  division  reversed  the  decision  of  the 
county  court  and  sustained  the  municipal.  The  court  of  appeals 
reversed  the  appellate  decision  thereby  sustaining  the  county 
court,  deciding  that  "other  places  of  public  accommodations" 
does  not  apply  to  bootblack  stands. 

5.  Massachusetts,  Illinois,  and  California  have  considered 
skating  rinks  of  enough  importance  to  include  them  in  their 
Civil  Rights  Bill. 

In  1885,  in  Iowa,  a  man  refused  to  let  a  Negro  use  his  skating- 
rink  on  account  of  his  color.  The  Negro  brought  suit  but  lost 
the  case.  Several  cases  were  brought  into  the  courts  of  New 
York,  where  Negroes  were  excluded  from  skating-rinks  used  by 
white  people. 

In  Chester,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Chicago,  and  many 
other  Northern  cities,  I  find  that  Negroes  are  excluded  from  the 
best  pool-rooms.  I  have  never  seen  white  and  colored  people 
playing  pool  together  in  any  Northern  city,  or  even  playing  in 
the  same  room. 

6.  In  parks  the  color  line  is  also  being  drawn  in  the  North. 
It  is  strange  that  it  should  be  drawn  here  as  parks  are  usually 
very  spacious,  and  the  races  do  not  have  to  come  very  close 
together,  but  the  Northern  whites  do  not  seem  to  desire  to  be 
near  a  Negro,  so  they  are  drawing  the  line.     Negroes  are  excluded 
from  all  of  the  popular  parks  in  Cincinnati,,  and  even  from  the 
Municipal  Bath  House.     In  Indianapolis  they  come  in  contact 
with  the  "bungaloo  gangs,"  who  beat  them  frightfully  and  run 
them  out  of  the  parks.     In  Chicago  the  white  people,  with  ropes 
and  guns,  rid  Gage  Park  of  Negroes.     The  fearful  race  riot  in 
Chicago  last  July  was  started  because  the  white  people  were 
trying  to  drive  the  Negroes  from  a  bathing  beach.     In  this  riot 
34  lives  were  lost  and  1500  were  injured.     At  Clemington,  New 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          69 

Jersey— the  Atlantic  City  for  the  poor— Negroes  are  allowed  to 
go  there  but  one  day  in  the  year.  On  the  day  the  Negroes  are 
permitted  to  go  all  the  white  people  stay  away.  In  Boston  the 
Negroes  are  practically  excluded  from  many  of  the  parks,  play 
grounds,  baths,  hospitals,  and  museums.  According  to  law 
they  can  use  them,  but  they  feel  better  when  they  do  not  try  to 
use  them.  In  such  work  as  settlements,  clubs  and  classes,  there 
are  many  of  the  people  of  Boston  that  make  it  a  rule  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Negroes. 

While  the  color  line  has  not  been  definitely  drawn  in  many  of 
the  public  libraries  in  the  North,  it  is  generally  understood  that 
Negroes  are  not  wanted  and  few  make  use  of  them.  One  of  the 
librarians  in  the  public  library  in  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  told  me 
that  there  had  been  but  two  Negroes  in  there  in  three  months. 
After  remaining  in  the  public  library  in  St.  Louis  for  some  time 
and  seeing  no  Negroes  in  there  I  asked  if  they  were  excluded.  I 
was  told  that  they  were  not  excluded,  but  were  unwelcome. 

When  we  turn  South  we  find  another  force  at  work,  one  of 
cooperation.  While  the  two  races  are  and  have  been  separated 
in  public  places,  still  there  is  a  spirit  of  cooperation  that  is  grow 
ing  rapidly.  In  a  number  of  Southern  cities  we  find  the  white 
people  and  colored  working  together  and  establishing  parks, 
public  baths,  public  play  grounds,  etc.,  for  the  Negroes.  The 
Baptist  World  August  7,  1919,  says:  " Since  Chicago  suffered 
from  race  rioting  on  the  beach,  The  Evening  Post  of  Louisville, 
has  come  out  in  favor  of  a  public  swimming  pool  for  the  Negroes. 
Why  not?  The  principle  of  equality  of  rights  under  the  law  and 
the  public  good  both  call  for  it."  In  a  small  pool  in  Louisville 
used  by  the  children,  I  saw  both  white  and  colored  children 
bathing  without  the  least  bit  of  friction. 

Louisville  has  two  very  good  public  libraries  for  Negroes. 
The  Negroes  can  go  to  the  three  white  libraries  and  get  books  or 
do  reference  work,  but  they  do  not  use  the  general  reading  room. 
When  the  staffs  of  the  different  libraries  have  their  joint  meet 
ings  the  whites  and  Negroes  meet  and  sit  together  to  discuss 
their  mutual  problems.  In  the  public  library  in  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  the  Negroes  go  among  the  shelves  just  the  same  as 
the  white  people,  but  they  do  not  remain  in  the  general  reading 
room.  In  Covington,  the  Negroes  use  the  public  library  just  the 


70        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

same  as  the  white  people.     In  Paris  the  Negroes  use  the  public 
library,  but  they  have  no  general  reading  room. 

When  it  comes  to  parks,  there  is  either  no  discrimination  or 
some  provision  is  made  for  the  Negroes.  I  saw  Negroes  playing 
tennis  and  other  games  in  several  of  the  parks  in  Louisville.  The 
only  complaint  I  heard  was,  one  Negro  said  that  sometimes  the 
white  people  took  too  many  of  the  tennis  courts.  In  the  Willow 
Grove  Park,  Covington,  the  Negroes  usually  take  the  lower 
section.  The  famous  Blue  Grass  Park  near  Lexington  is  used 
by  the  white  people  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer  and  by  the 
Negroes  the  latter  part.  This  is  a  great  improvement  over  the 
conditions  of  a  few  years  ago  when  the  Negro  had  no  such  advan 
tages.  No  one  formerly  thought  such  things  were  necessary  for 
Negroes.  But  now  both  races  are  working  together,  slowly,  of 
course,  but  steadily  and  determinedly,  to  develop  "the  Negro 
give  him  a  chance  to  have  pleasure  and  recreation  as  the  white 
people  enjoy.  The  North  is  portraying  a  spirit  of  antagonism, 
the  South  a  spirit  of  cooperation.  Really  I  believe  the  two  races 
are  much  closer  together  to-day  in  the  South  with  all  their  laws 
of  separation,  than  they  are  in  the  North  with  all  their  laws 
against  separation. 


CHAPTER  V 


RACE   DISTINCTIONS   IN   THE   ECONOMIC   AND 
POLITICAL  WORLD 

In  starting  out  to  deal  with  the  economic  and  political  side  of 
the  Negro  question  I  realize  that  I  have  an  almost  insurmountable 
task.  The  economic  side  of  the  question  is  very  complex  and  has 
called  forth  grave  comment.  This  is  especially  true  in  the  North, 
and  is  becoming  so  in  the  South.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
political  side  has  been  a  very  complicated  and  perplexing  problem 
for  thcTBaiETT  and  is  becoming  so  in  the  North.  The  South 's 
method  of  dealing  with  the  problem  has  caused  her  to  be  severely 
criticized  and  condemned  by  the  North.  This  is  not  true  of  all 
the  North,  but  most  of  it.  A  few  Northern  men  even  agitated 
the  using  of  armed  force  to  stop  the  South  in  her  seemingly  wild 
career  in  dealing  with  the  Negro.  But  now  the  sensible,  wide 
awake,  broad-minded  men  of  both  North  and  South  are  taking 
another  view  of  the  whole  problem.  What  the  outcome  is 
going  to  be,  it  is  impossible  to  forecast.  With  this  as  with  all 
other  political,  social  and  economical  questions,  we  can  see  what 
the  present  status  is,  what  the  tendency  is,  but  as  to  what  the 
future  is  going  to  be  we  can  only  surmise.  I  believe,  however, 
that  the  next  few  years  are  going  to  find  the  Negro  with  far  less 
political  power  in  the  North  Mum  the  little  ho  now  lias.  At  tho 
same  time,  I  think,  he  will  gain  political  power  in  the  South.  He 
is  fast  gaining  economic  power  in  the  South,  and  at  present,  due 
to  the  European  War,  he  has  more  power  in  the  North  than 
formerly,  but  what  is  going  to  happen  in  the  next  few  years 
is  an  unanswerable  question.  But  before  going  farther  I  must 
turn  to  the  respective  subheads  of  this  chapter. 


71 


72         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

1.  I  wish  to  deal,  first,  with  the  professional  and  business 
class  of  Negroes. 

It  is  said  that  in  India  the  populace  is  divided  horizontally  by 
caste  and  vertically  by  religion.  In  America  race  prejudice 
serves  both  as  a  horizontal  and  a  vertical  separation.  Doubtless 
it  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Negro  race  demands  that  its  preachers, 
teachers,  physicians,  lawyers  and  business  men  shall  for  the  most 
part  be  men  of  its  own  blood  and  sympathy. 

When  the  Negro  worshiper  gained  conscious  self-respect  he 
grew  tired  of  the  black  pews  and  upper  galleries  of  the  white 
churches  assigned  him  before  the  Civil  War,  and  began  to  seek  a 
place  of  worship  more  compatible  with  his  sense  of  freedom  and 
dignity.  Hence  there  arose  the  Negro  church  and  Negro  clergy. 
Very  early  the  Negro  evinced  a  decided  inclination,  in  some 
places,  to  "worship  God  under  his  own  vine  and  fig  tree. "  This 
spirit  caused  many  Negro  preachers,  like  Melchizedek  of  old,  to 
spring  into  existence  without  announcement  or  preparation. 
This  was  the  first  professional  class  to  arise  and  proportionally 
still  the  most  numerous,  there  being  some  17,495  of  them  in  the 
United  States.  To-day  the  religious  interest  of  the  Negro  race 
is  almost  wholly  under  the  supervision  of  the  Negro  clergy.  Out 
side  of  the  Catholic  Church  it  is  about  as  difficult  to  find  a  white 
minister  over  a  Negro  congregation  as  it  is  to  meet  with  the 
reverse  phenomenon.  The  Methodist  and  Baptist  churches 
include  well-nigh  the  entire  colored  race  and  are  wholly  under 
Negro  ecclesiastical  control. 

The  Negro  minister,  as  a  professional  man,  we  may  say  began 
before  the  Civil  War.  For  a  while  he  was  looked  upon  with  a 
bit  of  suspicion  by  the  white  slave  owners,  but  since  the  war  he 
has  been  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  white  people.  He,  as  a 
professional  man,  does  not  have  to  come  in  contact  with  the 
white  people  as  much  as  the  lawyers,  teachers,  physicians,  etc., 
so  race  prejudice  does  not  affect  his  profession  to  the  extent  that 
it  does  the  other  professional  men  of  his  race.  While  he  has 
never  been  permitted  to  become  the  pastor  of  a  white  congrega 
tion,  yet  he  is  freer  to  pursue  his  professional  duties  without 
meeting  with  much  race  prejudice.  As  I  shall  deal  more  at 
length  on  this  subject  in  another  chapter  I  shall  leave  it  for  the 
present. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          73 

The  rise  of  the  Negro  teacher  is  due  almost  wholly  to  the 
outcome  of  the  Civil  War.  The  South  believed  in  separation 
in  schools  as  well  as  in  other  things.  Hence  a  large  class  of 
Negro  teachers  were  brought  into  the  arena.  This  class  has 
steadily  increased  until  now  there  are  some  30,000  thus  engaged 
in  the  United  States.  These  teachers  are  engaged  mainly  in  the 
South.  However,  there  are  some  in  the  North,  but  their  number 
is  very  small.  Their  work  in  the  South,  and  mainly  in  the  North, 
is  confined  to  teaching  in  Negro  schools.  There  are,  however,  a 
few  Negroes  in  the  North  teaching  in  mixed  schools  just  as  there 
are  white  teachers  in  the  South  teaching  in  Negro  schools.  The 
Negro  teacher  is  finding  it  more  difficult  each  year  to  secure  a 
position  in  mixed  schools  in  the  North.  The  tendency  is  to  shut 
them  out  completely,  and  I  think  it  only  a  question  of  a  few  years 
until  there  will  be  no  Negroes  teaching  in  mixed  schools. 

According  to  the  census  for  1910,  Maine  had  1363  Negroes,  but 
only  six  were  teachers  and  three  were  ministers.  New  Hampshire 
had  564  Negroes,  no  teachers  and  only  one  minister.  Vermont 
had  1620  Negroes,  one  of  whom  was  a  teacher,  one  a  minister  and 
one  a  physician.  These  Negro  teachers  may  have  been  teaching 
in  private  schools.  But  with  no  more  teachers  among  that 
number  of  Negroes  in  the  Northern  New  England  States,  it  seems 
to  me,  there  must  be  some  objections.  I  am  sure  there  is  a 
decided  tendency  to  eliminate  the  Negro  teacher  from  teaching 
in  mixed  schools  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois.  In  cities  like  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati, 
Indianapolis,  and  Chicago  it  is  almost  impossible  for  a  Negro  to 
teach  in  a  school  where  any  white  children  go.  I  am  informed 
that  in  all  the  Chicago  public  schools  there  is  but  one  Negro  teach 
ing  in  a  mixed  school.  This  one  has  been  retained  because  she  has 
been  there  for  a  number  of  years  and  rendered  excellent  service. 
As  far  as  I  know  she  is  the  only  Negro  teaching  in  a  mixed  school 
in  the  Northern  Border  States,  and  since  Chicago  is  to  have 
separate  schools,  as  a  result  of  the  race  riot,  she  will  be  trans 
ferred  to  a  colored  school.  I  have  related  in  a  previous  chapter 
how  a  Negro  girl  was  ejected  from  a  school  in  Philadelphia 
to  make  place  for  a  white  girl.  Other  cases  could  be  related  if 
space  permitted.  We  find  no  Negro  as  a  member  of  the  faculty 
of  any  of  our  higher  universities,  such  as  Harvard,  Yale,  Penn- 


\ 


74         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

sylvania,  Columbia,  or  Chicago,  although  they  have  men  of  many 
other  races  as  members  of  their  faculties.  I  haven 't  the  least  doubt 
that  a  man  like  Du  Bois  is  as  well  qualified  to  be  a  professor  in 
one  of  the  universities  as  many  of  the  men  who  are  members  of 
their  faculties.  Yet,  one  need  not  have  a  very  great  imagination 
to  presage  the  outcome  of  a  university  which  chose  even  a  Du 
Bois,  who  is  more  white  than  black,  as  a  member  of  its  faculty. 

The  Negro  physician  has  only  recently  entered  the  arena  in 
sufficient  numbers  to  call  forth  attention.  At  first  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  the  Negro  physician  gained  a  foothold  in  the 
medical  profession.  The  white  people,  of  course,  would  not 
employ  him  and  the  Negro  patient  refused  to  put  confidence  in 
him,  notwithstanding  the  two  were  closely  associated  socially. 
Only  as  he  was  able  to  show  his  ability  to  treat  diseases  as 
successfully  as  the  white  physician  was  he  able  to  overcome  this 
feeling.  While  it  was  hard  to  overcome  all  this,  nevertheless 
his  success  has  often  been  little  less  than  marvelous.  Race 
prejudice  probably  gives  him  a  few  patients,  yet  if  he  did  not 
secure  as  good  results  in  treating  diseases  as  the  white  practitioner 
he  would  soon  find  himself  with  no  patients  on  whom  he  could 
demonstrate  his  skill. 

The  Negro  physician  is  the  best  trained  professional  class  the 
Negroes  have.  He  has  to  take  the  same  preliminary  training 
and  pass  the  same  examinations  as  the  white  physician.  This  is 
also  the  case  with  the  Negro  lawyer  and  pharmacist,  but  the 
courses  of  study  and  the  examinations  for  these  professions  are 
not  as  difficult  as  medicine. 

The  practice  of  the  Negro  physician  is  confined  chiefly  to 
members  of  his  own  race,  unless  he  locates  in  a  town  where  there 
are  very  few  Negroes.  Thoughjjnet  some  Negro  physicians  in 
KenjLucky  tha_t  told  me  they  did  a  considerable  practice  among 
the  white  people.  He  is  also  hindered  in  another  way.  In  cities 
like  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Boston 
the  Negro  is  being  shut  out  of  hospitals.  Not  being  able  to 
operate  in  these  hospitals  is  a  serious  handicap.  He  is  not 
permitted  to  associate  with  the  white  members  of  his  profession. 
They  refuse  to  give  him  a  consultant,  and  no  white  physician 
would  think  of  having  a  Negro  as  a  partner  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  The  Negroes  are  not  sufficiently  organized  and  do 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          75 

not  have  the  money  at  their  disposal  to  establish  and  maintain 
first  class  hospitals,  yet  this  is  what  they  will  have  to  do.  I  feel 
that  the  Negro  physician  is  surer  of  success  in  the  South  than  in 
the  North.  Many  of  them  are  succeeding  in  a  remarkable 
manner  in  the  South,  and  are  doing  much  to  uplift  their  race, 
and  are  much  respected  by  the  white  people.  In  the  North 
some  white  physicians  refuse  to  treat  Negro  patients,  but  in  the 
South,  I  know  of  no  white  physician  refusing  to  treat  a  Negro 
patient  simply  because  he  is  a  Negro.  This  is  a  test  for  the 
Negro  physician  and  calls  forth  his  best  skill  as  he  is  constantly 
in  competition  with  the  white  physician.  In  1910  there  were 
3,177  Negro  physicians  in  the  United  States.  These  were 
located  mostly  in  the  South. 

The  Negro  lawyer  has  not  been  so  fortunate  as  his  medical 
confrere.  The  relationship  between  lawyer  and  client  is  more 
business  like  and  not  so  personal  and  confidential  as  between 
physician  and  patient.  Another  element  enters  in  to  check  the 
success  of  the  Negro  lawyer.  The  judge  and  the  jury  are  white 
in  some  cases  a  mixed  jury — and  it  is  supposed  that  the  white, 
lawyer  has  more  weight  with  the  judge  and  jury  than  the  Negro 
lawyer.  The  Negro  lawyer  is  to  a  remarkable  degree  over 
coming  this  feeling  and  other  racial  feelings,  but  I  doubt  if  he 
will  ever  be  able  to  meet  with  the  success  with  which  his  ministe 
rial,  pedagogical  and  medical  confreres  have  met.  Some  Negro 
lawyers  in  the  South  as  well  as  dentists  and  other  professional 
classes  do  a  considerable  practice  among  the  white  people.  A 
prominent  Negro  lawyer  in  Louisville  told  me  that  if  he  felt 
disposed  to  do  so,  he  could  confine  his  practice  to  the  white  people 
and  have  more  than  he  could  do. 

The  American  Bar  in  1912  had  a  serious  disturbance  when  it 
was  discovered  that  a  Boston  Negro  was  a  member  of  the 
association.  The  president  of  the  association  was  afraid  the 
Negro — Mr.  Lewis — might  wish  to  attend  the  annual  convention. 
The  Negro  was  accused  of  getting  elected  by  " misapprehension." 
Feeling  ran  high  among  the  members,  but  after  much  debating 
the  Negro  was  permitted  to  retain  his  membership. 

In  a  certain  sense  the  destiny  of  the  Negro  race  in  the  United 
States  hangs  on  the  shoulders  of  these  four  professional  classes. 
A  far  graver  responsibility  and  a  far  heavier  burden  rest  on  these 


76          Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

professional  Negroes  than  on  the  respective  professional  class 
of  whites.  The  Negro  preacher  must  meet  every  conceivable 
form  of  acquired  as  well  as  "original"  sin.  The  Negro  teacher 
has  to  meet  with  ignorance  and  pedagogical  obtuseness  in  a  more 
marked  degree  than  the  white  teacher.  The  Negro  physician 
must  understand  all  the  variety  of  diseases  of  the  white  people 
and  the  peculiar  diseases  of  the  Negro.  The  Negro  lawyer's 
sphere  covers  the  whole  gamut,  involving  the  right  of  person 
and  property.  These  professional  classes  should  have  the  best 
training  which  our  higher  institutions  of  learning  are  capable  of 
giving.  This  is  not  only  necessary  for  the  conservation  of  the 
Negro,  but  for  the  whites  as  well.  By  reason  of  the  stratum 
which  the  Negro  occupies  in  our  social  scheme,  the  race  is  an 
easy  prey  for  vice,  crime  and  disease  which  affects  the  whole  life 
of  the  Nation.  Crime,  vice  and  disease  have  no  race  prejudice; — 
they  often  do  not  stop  to  draw  the  line  of  social  equality.  If 
they  make  inroads  upon  the  Negro  to-day,  they  will  attack  the 
white  man  to-morrow.  If  it  is  necessary  for  us,  a  dominant  race 
with  a  higher  social  environment,  to  be  qualified  with  the  best 
educational  training,  it  surely  is  necessary  for  the  professional 
Negroes  to  be  also  well  qualified  to  serve  as  philosophers,  guides 
and  friends  to  over  ten  million  unfortunate  Negroes  whom  they 
have  to  serve  in  our  midst. 

Negroes  also  furnish  a  small  quota  of  editors,  pharmacists, 
authors,  dentists,  musicians,  actors,  artists,  etc.  Some  of  the 
best  known  writers  in  America  for  the  last  few  years  have  been 
Negroes,  such  as  Washington,  Du  Bois,  and  Kelly  Miller. 
Negroes  have  been  entering  the  different  professions  very  rapidly 
for  the  last  few  years  and  have  been  meeting  with  success,  yet 
they  have  less  than  one-fourth  of  their  professional  quota. 

The  Negro  boy  who  becomes  a  pharmacist  or  a  dentist  and 
the  Negro  girl  who  becomes  a  trained  nurse  finds  race  prejudice 
retarding  their  progress.  Unless  the  Negro  pharmacist  finds  a 
position  in  a  Negro  drug  store,  he  can  find  nothing  to  do.  A 
young  Negro  pharmacist  applied  to  an  owner  of  a  drug  store  for 
a  position.  He  received  the  following  reply:  " I  wouldn 't  have  a 
Negro  to  sweep  my  store  much  less  to  stand  behind  the  counter. " 
The  Negro  dentist  must  practice  among  his  own  people  and  the 
Negro  nurse  must  seek  a  place  in  a  Negro  hospital. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States  77 

If  the  Negro  enters  the  mercantile  business  or  any  similar 
business  in  the  North,  he  finds  himself  in  a  struggle  against  race 
prejudice.  The  white  people  will  not  trade  with  him.  This  is 
not  the  case,  however,  in  the  South,  for  here  one  sees  many  white 
people  patronize  Negro  merchants.  But  this  is  not  the  case  in 
the  North  as  many  writers  testify. 

If  Negro  boys  and  girls  complete  a  course  in  bookkeeping  or 
shorthand  or  wish  to  secure  a  clerical  position,  who  will  employ 
them?  He  who  would  expect  to  find  a  Negro  clerk  in  a  white 
man's  store  or  a  Negro  bookkeeper  or  stenographer  in  a  white 
man's  office  is  surely  not  acquainted  with  the  conditions  in  the 
North  to-day.  Some  years  ago  a  Negro  answered  an  advertise 
ment  for  a  clerk  in  the  suburbs  of  Philadelphia.  "  What  do  you 
suppose  we  'd  want  of  a  Negro?  "  was  the  answer.  Even  in  Boston 
some  three  or  four  years  ago  the  authorities  of  vocational  guid 
ance  work  in  Boston  public  schools  decided  not  to  teach  stenog 
raphy  to  young  Negro  women  because  investigation  seemed  to 
prove  that  positions  would  not  be  open  to  such  women  in  Boston. 
Investigations  seem  to  prove  that  the  struggle  of  the  professional 
and  business  Negro  in  the  North  is  becoming  more  severe  every 
year.  On  the  other  hand,  these  same  classes  have  a  much  better 
opportunity  in  the  South.  Of  course  the  white  people  do  not 
employ  these  classes  in  the  South  very  much  more  than  form 
erly  or  any  more  than  the  North,  but  there  are  so  many  more 
Negroes  in  the  South  and  they  are  developing  so  rapidly,  so  they 
have  more  opportunities. 

2.  Now  let  us  see  how  the  Negro  is  succeeding  as  a  skilled 
and  unskilled  laborer. 

I  know  of  no  Northern  city  where  the  birth  rate  of  Negroes 
exceeds  the  death  rate.  Yet  the  Negro  population  is  rapidly 
increasing  in  most  of  them.  But  even  now  Negroes  form  1.72 
per  cent,  of  the  population  North  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line. 
In  this  same  boundary  there  are  fourteen  foreigners  to  every 
Negro,  yet  the  Negro's  economic  struggle  becomes  more  inten 
sified  as  the  years  pass.  In  the  North  the  Negro's  economic 
problem  is  chiefly  a  problem  of  the  city,  but  in  the  South  it  is 
more  a  problem  of  the  rural  districts.  In  the  North  78  per  cent, 
of  the  Negroes  live  in  the  cities  and  only  22  per  cent,  in  the 
country.  In  the  South  this  ratio  is  reversed.  So  the  Negro  of 


78         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

the  South  is  primarily  a  farmer,  but  in  the  North  primarily  a 
wage-earner. 

Some  one  may  say  the  Negro  problem  is  primarily  a  problem 
in  economic  adjustment  and  that  the  Negro  should  be  given 
such  training  as  will  fit  him  for  a  place  in  our  industrial  life. 
Give  him  industrial  training  in  the  broad  sense  of  the  phrase, 
such  as  will  develop  in  him  character  and  intelligence  necessary 
for  efficiency  on  the  one  hand  and  for  citizenship  on  the  other. 
Let  him  learn  a  trade.  Dr.  Washington  and  others  have  demon 
strated  the  feasibility  and  practicability  of  such  industrial  train 
ing  for  the  Negroes  in  the  South  on  a  large  scale,  and  it  has 
worked  well  there.  What  about  the  North,  has  it  and  is  it 
working  well  there?  What  is  the  attitude  of  the  labor  unions 
toward  the  Negro? 

In  1897  The  American  Federation  of  Labor  reaffirmed  an 
earlier  declaration  that  "the  working  people  must  unite  and 
organize  irrespective  of  creed,  color,  sex,  nationality  or  politics." 
In  1910,  this  was  still  its  declared  policy.  Prior  to  1900  the 
Federation,  in  its  efforts  to  have  all  affiliated  union  carry  out 
this  policy,  insisted  that  those  unions  desirings  to  enter  the 
affiliation  must  eliminate  the  color  clause  from  their  constitutions 
and  laws.  For  several  years  the  International  Association  of 
Machinists  was  excluded  because  it  refused  to  remove  the  word 
"white"  from  its  constitutional  qualification  for  admission. 
This  same  thing  is  said  to  have  been  at  one  time  the  chief  obstacle 
preventing  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Firemen  from 
affiliating  with  the  Federation.  But  within  recent  years  these 
unions  which  deny  admission  to  Negroes  have  not  been  excluded. 
In  1910  the  following  unions  which  explicitly  exclude  Negroes 
were  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor:  Tele 
graphers,  Commercial  Telegraphers,  Railway  Mail  Clerks,  Wire 
Weavers,  Machinists  and  Boiler  Makers  and  Iron  Ship  Builders. 

Within  recent  years  various  instances  of  local  discrimination 
against  Negroes  have  arisen  which  exclude  them  from  becoming 
members  of  labor  unions.  These  instances  are  found,  not  only 
in  the  Northern  border  cities,  but  as  far  North  as  Detroit  and 
Boston.  This  is  either  effected  by  denying  them  admission  to 
the  union  of  the  white  people,  or  by  refusing  to  give  consent  to 
charter  a  representative  Negro  local  union,  or  by  rejecting  a 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          79 

Negro  applicant  holding  a  transfer  card.  The  denial  for  admis 
sion  to  the  white  local  union  is  probably  the  commonest  cause 
operating  to  exclude  Negroes.  Very  few  unions  welcome  the 
Negro  with  open  arms,  although  there  are  a  few  as  in  the  mining 
districts  of  Alabama,  and  the  Central  of  Georgia  Railway 
others,  especially  in  the  North,  are  sullenly  indifferent,  or  admit 
only  a  few  Negroes,  if  any.  Most  of  the  unions  in  Boston 
expressly  forbid  discrimination  on  the  grounds  of  race,  color,  or 
religion,  but  the  individual  members  of  the  unions  grant  that  it 
would  be  next  to  impossible  for  a  Negro  to  become  a  member. 
In  Pittsburg  there  are  only  two  trade  unions  that  admit  Negroes 
to  membership.  Some  of  the  higher  officials  of  the  labor  unions 
are  greatly  astonished  when  they  learn  that  there  are  some  white 
people  that  are  interested  in  the  Negro  question. 

When  we  turn  to  the  South  we  find  that  a  few  years  ago  on  the 
Georgia  and  Florida  Railway  the  white  and  colored  firemen 
struck  for  higher  wages.  Mobs  of  both  white  and  colored  men 
held  up  trains.  The  Negroes  were  as  loyal  to  the  unions  as  the 
whites  and  the  strike  was  won.  About  the  beginning  of  the  year 
of  1913,  the  white  carpenters  in  Key  West,  Florida,  struck 
because  two  Negro  workmen  were  discharged.  The  white 
members  of  the  carpenter's  union  refused  to  return  to  work 
until  the  Negroes  had  been  reinstated.  These  examples  show 
us  that  the  white  and  colored  people  belong  to  the  same  unions 
in  the  South,  and  that  the  Negroes  make  loyal  union  men,  and 
that  they  are  supported  according  to  union  rules  by  the  white 
members  of  the  organization.  I  have  failed  to  find  a  single  case 
on  record  where  a  worthy  Negro  was  refused  admittance  into 
alabor  union  in  the  South. 

I  think  two  things  are  responsible  for  the  development  of 
antagonism  between  the  labor  unions  and  the  Negro  in  the  North. 
Often  when  the  union  men  go  out  on  a  strike  in  the  North,  the 
employer  sends  South  and  has  a  supply  of  Negroes  come  up 
and  work,  employing  them  as  strike  breakers.  Of  course  the 
Negroes  should  not  be  blamed  very  seriously  for  this;  they  are 
only  following  the  white  man's  guidance.  But  the  union  men 
are  trying  to  gain  the  strike  and  they  do  not  want  any  one 
employed  in  their  places.  Some  time  ago  a  Negro  went  from 
Alabama  to  Philadelphia  to  work,  driving  a  coal  wagon  for  Geo. 


80        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

B.  Newton  Co.  He  worked  for  three  days  as  a  strike  breaker, 
but  on  the  fourth  day  a  brickbat  falling  on  the  side  of  his  head 
from  a  fourth  story  window  persuaded  him  to  stop  immediately 
his  strike  breaking  career  and  make  a  swift  hegira  back  to 
Alabama.  The  riot  in  East  St.  Louis  is  said  to  have  been  caused 
by  Southern  Negroes  being  imported  to  break  a  strike.  Also  it 
was  one  of  the  underlying  causes  of  the  trouble  in  Chicago. 
Then  the  laborer  in  the  North  does  not  like  to  work  by  the  side 
of  a  Negro.  There  seems  to  be  a  general  antagonism  between 
the  two  races  to  the  extent  that  the  white  workmen  want  nothing 
to  do  with  the  Negroes.  The  presence  of  these  imported  strike 
breaking  Negroes  causes  race  prejudice  to  develop  very  rapidly. 
The  labor  unions  say  they  do  not  admit  the  Negro  because  he 
is  not  well  trained  and  is  not  reliable,  but  the  chief  cause  is  the 
general  antagonism  between  the  two  classes  of  laborers.  In 
general  the  Northern  white  laborer  is  violently  opposed  to  working 
by  the  side  of  a  Negro.  More  than  once  it  has  happened  that  a 
Negro  going  from  the  South  with  a  union  transfer  card  has  drawn 
his  pay  without  being  permitted  to  go  to  work  on  the  job.  When 
he  was  permitted  to  go  to  work  all  the  white  men  quit,  so  it  was 
better  to  pay  him  and  let  him  walk  the  streets  for  a  while,  until 
he  became  disgusted  or  the  job  was  finished,  than  to  permit  him 
to  go  to  work  and  all  the  white  men  quit  the  job  unfinished. 

I  heard  a  prominent  Negro  relate  his  experience  when  he  first 
went  North  to  get  work.  He  is  a  bright  mulatto,  his  grand 
father  being  a  white  man,  a  former  governor  of  North  Carolina. 
Being  a  skilled  mechanic,  he  went  from  Virginia  to  Philadelphia 
to  work.  He  tried  at  many  different  places  to  get  employment 
as  a  Negro,  only  to  be  refused  at  every  place.  They  needed 
help  but  he  was  a  Negro.  He  then  decided  he  was  so  near 
white,  he  would  try  running  the  gauntlet  on  them.  So  he 
started  out  to  get  work  as  a  white  man  and  the  first  place  he 
tried  he  got  the  job.  He  worked  as  a  white  man  for  five  years 
and  no  one  in  the  shop  knew  the  difference.  Finally,  one  day 
as  he  was  walking  up  the  street  with  the  foreman,  the  foreman 
asked  him  something  about  the  Negroes  in  the  South.  The 
mulatto  then  confessed  that  he  himself  was  a  Negro.  On  hearing 
this  the  foreman  exclaimed:  "My  God,  man!  Don't  say  any 
thing  about  that  in  the  shop,  for  if  you  do  every  man  I  have  will 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          81 

quit  work. "  But  the  mulatto  was  tired  of  playing  Mr.  Hyde  and 
he  soon  decided  to  return  to  the  full  glory  of  Dr.  Jekyll.  He 
returned  South  and  married  a  Negro  wife. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Negro  who  is  already  a  skilled  worker 
has  a  hard  time  securing  work  at  his  trade  in  the  North  owing  to 
the  attitude  of  the  unions  and  laborers  in  general.  When  it  comes 
to  the  Negro  boy  in  the  North  who  wants  to  learn  a  trade,  the 
industrial  schools  find  that  it  is  not  worth  while  to  give  them 
industrial  training  because  there  seems  to  be  no  work  open  to 
them.  If  one  applies  for  a  position  with  electric  or  other 
industrial  companies  where  he  can  go  in  and  learn  the  business, 
he  is  informed  that  no  Negroes,  however  promising,  are  wanted. 
It  is  fifty  times  harder  for  the  colored  boy  to  secure  work  of  this 
nature  than  it  is  for  the  white  boy.  If  the  colored  boy  does 
happen  to  secure  a  job  of  this  nature,  to  hold  it  he  must  do  better 
work  than  the  white  boy,  and  even  then,  his  promotion  is  slow 
and  uncertain. 

The  general  exclusion  of  Negroes  from  all  places  where  they 
might  acquire  business  and  industrial  training  is  a  serious  handi 
cap  to  their  progress.  In  the  high  skilled  and  best  paid  trades 
they  are  as  far  removed  as  they  are  from  the  position  of  cashier 
of  a  bank.  A  few  months  ago  a  friend  handed  me  a  letter  which 
he  had  received  from  Mr.  Scott  Porter,  secretary  of  The  Master 
Builders  Association  of  Akron,  Ohio.  In  that  letter  Mr.  Porter 
said:  "We  have  had  numerous  inquiries  relative  to  colored 
mechanics  and  laborers,  and  beg  to  advise  that  we  cannot  use  any 
of  this  class  of  people  in  our  city.  Our  object  in  advertising  is 
not  to  acquire  an  undesirable  class,  but  we  certainly  do  welcome 
all  desirable  people  who  wish  to  come  to  Akron. "  He  evidently 
counts  Negroes  as  undesirable  citizens. 

The  white  people  in  the  North  sometimes  get  very  enthusiastic 
about  the  education  of  the  Negro  in  the  South,  but  when  it  comes 
to  employing  one  they  will  let  him  starve  to  death  before  they 
will  give  him  a  chance  to  make  an  honest  living.  The  Negro  can 
walk  the  streets  of  the  Northern  cities  day  after  day  seeking 
employment,  and  he  finds  every  door  closed  against  him,  except 
in  menial  service.  Many  of  the  best  trained  and  educated 
have  to  turn  to  the  South  if  they  wish  to  do  anything 
but  odd  jobs  and  heavy  manual  labor.  The  Negro  is 


82         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

past-master  in  the  use  of  euphemisms  but  the  hotels  and  restau 
rants  do  not  want  him.  Many  of  them  are  good  machinists  but 
the  manufacturing  establishments  will  not  have  them.  Since  the 
riots  in  Chicago  even  the  packers  and  owners  of  the  stockyards 
and  other  industrial  plants,  which  were  the  principal  employers 
of  Negro  labor,  have  met  and  reached  an  understanding  and  final 
decision  to  return  Negro  laborers  to  the  South  and  give  white  men 
the  employment.  Race  prejudice  has  so  increased  in  the  North 
that  a  few  years  ago  at  Marion,  Massachusetts,  and  about  four 
years  ago  in  New  York  City,  town  meetings  were  held  providing 
for  a  vote  on  the  question  of  employing  only  white  men  on  town 
work. 

The  masses  of  Negroes  in  the  North  are  being  held  down  to 
the  lowest,  most  menial  occupations.  The  Negro  has  room  at 
the  bottom  but  no  fixed  industrial  status.  Of  course  the  Negro 
race  is  a  child  race,  left  behind  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  on  one 
hand,  because  of  original  unfavorable  environment  and  con 
sequent  inheritance  of  physical  and  mental  conditions  that,  at 
present,  foredoom  to  failure  their  competition  on  equal  terms 
with  other  races.  But  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  behind 
because  of  race  prejudice.  This  has  caused  them  to  lose  the 
occupations  that  were  confessedly  theirs  in  the  North.  It  seems 
that  the  Northern  people  have  abandoned  their  liberal  doctrine 
and  are  now  going  to  the  other  extreme.  They,  in  general,  seem 
to  be  doing  all  they  can  to  keep  the  Negro  away  from  the  North, 
except  for  the  last  few  years  owing  to  the  labor  situation  caused 
by  the  European  War.  Now  that  the  war  is  over  they  seem  to  be 
doing  all  they  can  to  rid  themselves  of  the  Negroes  who  came 
up  during  the  war.  I  have  read  of  many  Negroes  returning 
South  saying:  "I'se  got  'miff  of  de  Norf."  Dozens  of  Negroes 
working  in  the  munition  factories  told  me  they  did  not  like  the 
North  and  did  not  intend  to  stay  any  longer  than  the  war 
lasted.  Many  said  they  came  there  to  keep  out  of  the  army. 
I  said  to  a  Negro  from  Jacksonville,  Florida.  "How  would 
you  like  to  be  in  Jacksonville  to-night?"  His  reply  was:  "I'd 
a  thousand  times  rather  be  there  than  here."  He  continued, 
"  Youse  can  make  a  lot  of  money  up  here,  but  it  takes  everything 
to  live.  Can't  get  anything  fresh,  everything  you  buy  is  rotten, 
and  they  don 't  care  as  much  for  you  as  they  do  a  dog. "  Another 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          83 

said:  "Dese  people  get  me.  I  ran  on  de  train  for  twelve  years 
befo'  I  come  here,  and  can  handle  a  train  all  right.  But  they 
wouldn't  let  me  get  up  on  that  train  and  even  turn  it  around 
to  save  my  life."  Another  Negro  said  to  me:  "I  was  raised  up 
here  among  these  people  and  served  on  the  police  force  in  both 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  but (? these  are  the  damnedest  people 
I  ever  saw.  They  pat  you  on  the  back  when  they  want  a  favor 
and  cut  your  throat  the  rest  of  the  time.  I  married  in  South 
Carolina  and  have  a  farm  down  there  and  I  expect  to  go  back 
down  there  and  live. "  A  few  nights  afterward  another  Negro  and 
a  Filipino  had  a  fight  and  the  whites  swore  the  Filipino  clear. 
This  Negro  with  others  quit  and  left  for  South  Carolina. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  Negro  usually  gets  better  wages  in  the 
North  than  in  the  South.  But  what  becomes  of  the  better  wages? 
They  go  for  exorbitant  rentals.  All  investigators  testify  that 
the  Negro  has  to  pay  higher  rents  than  the  white  people  and  get 
poorer  houses,  or  rather  rooms,  for  many  of  them  do  not  have 
much  more  than  a  room.  Then  they  have  to  pay  for  fuel  to  keep 
them  warm  through  the  long  Northern  winters,  pay  for  lights, 
water,  etc.  Yet  most  of  the  Negroes  seem  to  have  the  idea  that 
if  they  get  $15  per  week  in  a  Northern  city  and  it  costs  them  $15 
per  week  to  live,  that  they  are  doing  better  than  in  the  South 
where  they  make  $10  per  week  and  it  costs  them  $8  per  week  to 
live.  When  the  Negro  gets  into  the  North  whatever  he  gets  he 
has  to  pay  for.  It  is  quite  different  from  the  sunny  South, 
where  things  often  come  from  the  white  man's  table  free  of 
charge,  where  he  borrows  money  from  his  white  friend,  both 
knowing  it  will  never  be  repaid.  A  Southern  Negro  working  in 
the  North  said  to  me:  "What  we  get  here  we  have  to  pay  for, 
and  if  we  don't  have  any  money  we  don't  get  anything.  No 
body  gives  us  anything  and  nobody  will  trust  us. " 

These  higher  rentals  and  other  expenses  force  the  Negro  into 
unsanitary  houses.  Frequently  they  are  forced  to  labor  without 
sufficient  food  and  clothing,  and  without  proper  rest.  Com 
petition  compels  them  to  follow  the  hardest  and  most  exposed 
occupations  in  order  to  gain  a  livelihood.  The  rigors  of  the 
pitiless  commercial  and  economic  competition  of  the  North,  they 
feel  in  all  its  intensity.  As  a  wage-earner  the  Negro  secures 
neither  the  respect  of  his  employer  nor  a  competence  for  him- 


84          Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

self,  but   he    must   live   in    these    conditions    which    bring  on 
sickness  and  premature  death. 

The  Negro,  of  course,  must  bear  part  of  the  blame  for  his 
present  condition.  Laziness,  lack  of  foresight,  misdirected 
energy,  pleasure-seeking,  immorality,  have  all  been  more  or  less 
potent  factors  in  keeping  him  in  poverty.  Much  of  this,  I 
think,  is  due  to  the  training  he  received  in  the  slavery  regime. 
He  portrays  these  characteristics  in  the  South,  but  the  Southern 
people  are  accustomed  to  them  and  do  not  seem  to  pay  very 
much  attention  to  these  defects.  But  the  Northern  white  man 
has  not  been  accustomed  to  such  characteristics,  and  when  the 
Negro  "plays-off"  on  him,  he  has  no  more  to  do  with  Negroes 
and  ceases  to  be  a  friend  to  them.  His  relationship  is  more 
business-like  and  less  personal.  The  Negro  in  the  North  is  in 
a  higher  developed  industrial  atmosphere  and  he  does  not  seem 
to  be  able  to  adjust  himself  to  the  new  conditions  of  living  as  a 
wage-earner.  He  has  left  the  South  where  the  prejudice  is 
social  and  political,  but  in  the  North,  while  it  is  not  so  much  that, 
it  is  more  of  an  economic  struggle,  forcing  him  into  menial  service, 
thus  striking  at  the  heart  of  his  existence.  He  works  harder,  no 
doubt,  than  he  did  in  the  South,  but  the  high  rents,  etc.,  run  up 
his  expenses  at  such  a  rate  that  he  has  to  call  his  wife  and  children 
into  service  to  get  enough  to  live;  even  then  the  words  of  the  old 
rhyme  apply  to  him: 

"Rufus  Rastus  Johnson  Brown, 

What  you  gwine  terdo  when  de  rent  comes  'round?  "\ 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  Negro  masses  must  seek  the  South  for 
economic  freedom.  Booker  Washington  said:  "  Whatever 
other  sins  the  South  may  be  called  upon  to  bear,  when  it  comes 
to  business,  pure  and  simple,  it  is  in  the  South  that  the  Negro 
is  given  a  man's  chance  in  the  commercial  world."23  Again  he 
wrote:  "It  has  been  my  privilege  to  study  the  conditions  of  my 
people  in  nearly  every  part  of  America;  and  I  say,  without 
hesitation,  that,  with  some  exceptional  cases,  the  Negro  is  at 
his  best  in  the  Southern  States."24  And  again  he  said:  "Wher 
ever  the  Negro  has  lost  ground  industrially  in  the  South,  it  is  not 
because  there  is  a  prejudice  against  him  as  a  skilled  laborer  on 


23  Up  from  Slavery,  pp.  119-120. 

24  Future  of  the  American  Negro,  p.  202. 


Races  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States          85 

the  part  of  the  native  Southern  white  man."25  Dr.  A.  C.  Ellis, 
in  a  speech  at  the  Sagamore  Sociological  Conference,  said:  "I 
believe  that  the  Negro  is  given  a  fairer  economic  chance  in  the 
South  than  in  the  North." 

According  to  the  statements  of  these  men  and  others  which  I 
could  mention,  it  appears  that  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  the 
economic  development  of  the  Negro  in  the  South.  The  question 
that  naturally  follows — is  he  taking  advantage  of  his  opportuni 
ties?  Yes,  to  a  remarkable  degree.  Nearly  9,000,000  Negroes 
live  in  the  South,  and  about  7,000,000  of  these  live  in  the  rural 
districts.  Of  the  150,000,000  acres  of  the  improved  land  in  the 
South,  something  like  100,000,000  acres  are  cultivated  by  Negro 
labor.  Out  of  every  eleven  bales  of  cotton  produced  in  the  South 
seven  are  produced  by  Negroes.  From  1900  to  1910  the  total 
value  of  farm  property  owned  by  the  colored  farmers  in  the  South 
increased  from  $177,404,688  to  $492,893,218,  or  177  per  cent. 
The  census  shows  that  the  number  of  Negro  landowners  is 
increasing  through  the  South  about  50  per  cent,  more  rapidly 
than  the  white  landowners.  Surely  these  figures  speak  well  for 
the  Negroes  in  the  South. 

3.  The  Negro  in  politics  has  long  been  a  bugaboo  in  the  South. 
It  has  served  as  a  weapon  to  wield  the  white  South  into  one 
political  party  to  oppose  the  Negro  who  has  been  an  advocate  of 
the  other  party,  due  to  Northern  training.  It  has  also  served  to 
keep  alive  the  old  animosity  between  the  Northern  and  Southern 
white  men.  The  Reconstruction  Period  of  Negro  rule  in  the 
South  presents,  to  my  mind,  the  most  tragic  scene  that  ever  befell 
any  part  of  the  New  World.  But  soon  the  South  determined  to 
have  no  more  of  that,  and  after  a  short  time  she  found  a  means  of 
eliminating  the  Negro  politician  and  voter.  She  saw  the  Negro 
was  not  prepared  to  run  the  political  " machine"  in  the  South. 
Any  State  in  the  Union  might  give  the  ballot  to  boys  of  twelve 
years  of  age,  but  no  State  could  guarantee  its  proper  use  in  the 
hands  of  these  boys.  This  is  just  what  happened  in  the  South 
after  the  Civil  War.  Even  to-day  the  Negro  en  masse  is  still 
a  baby — a  political  baby.  After  the  war  the  Negro  was  still 
a  slave  in  everything  but  name,  yet  he  was  asked  to  become  at 
once  a  governing  citizen.  No  amendment  can  over  night  make 

25  Future  of  the  American  Negro,  p.  78. 


86        Rates  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

freedmen  of  slaves.     Freedom  is  a  gradual  growth,  and  it  is 
vain  to  bestow  it  on  those  who  have  not  earned  it. 

Before  1890  there  was  no  law  on  the  statute-books  in  the  South 
to  prevent  Negroes  from  voting,  yet  in  some  places  they  were 
not  permitted  to  do  so  for  fear  of  mob  violence,  in  other  places 
their  votes  were  disregarded,  but  in  others  they  voted  freely.  In 
general,  many  illegal  methods  were  used  to  discountenance  their 
voting.  In  1890,  Mississippi  made  the  famous  constitutional 
amendment  to  keep  or  restrict  the  Negro  vote  to  what  she  con 
sidered  proper  bounds.  South  Carolina  followed  in  1895; 
Louisiana,  1898;  North  Carolina,  1900;  Alabama  and  Virginia, 
1901;  Georgia,  1908;  Maryland  has  tried  the  same  game  but  has 
failed  in  every  effort.  Alabama,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Virginia,  and  Oklahoma  passed  the 
famous  "Grandfather  Clause."  Mississippi,  Georgia,  South 
Carolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia  have  the  "  Understanding 
Clause."  California,  Illinois,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  New 
Hampshire,  Washington,  Wyoming,  and  the  Philippines  have  a 
form  of  the  " Grandfather  Clause."  Florida,  Arkansas,  Ten 
nessee  and  Texas  have  not  made  any  constitutional  amendments 
that  can  be  called  suffrage  amendments.  Maine,  Massachusetts 
and  Vermont  are  about  as  strict  in  their  registration  requirements 
as  any  of  the  Southern  States.  In  fact,  Mississippi  copied 
verbatim  her  qualifications  of  suffrage  from  Massachusetts  and 
Vermont.  When  Maine  added  her  educational  qualification 
in  1893,  she  provided  that  the  qualification  should  not  apply  to 
any  one  who  had  the  right  to  vote  in  January,  1893,  or  to  any 
one  sixty  years  of  age  at  that  time.  Yet  she  joined  in  rebuking 
the  South  for  doing  the  same  thing.  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware 
require  the  payment  of  poll  tax  just  as  many  Southern  States  do. 
In  fact,  suffrage  is  very  restricted  anyway  in  the  United  States. 
Certain  standards  are  set  in  all  States.  Boys  under  twenty-one 
years  of  age  cannot  vote  regardless  of  how  well  educated  they 
may  be.  Women  are  just  now  gaining  the  right  of  the  ballot. 
Criminals,  idiots,  and  the  insane  cannot  vote  anywhere.  In  1912 
there  were  over  90,000,000  people  in  the  United  States,  but 
only  15,000,000  voted  in  the  Presidential  election,  or  about  one 
in  every  six. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States         87 

Many  of  the  Southern  States  have  passed  the  restrictive  regis 
tration  qualifications.  Before  these  were  passed,  Negroes  were 
disfranchised  by  illegal  methods,  as  has  been  indicated.  Now 
the  Negro  who  can  read  and  write  satisfactorily  to  the  register 
can  vote  according  to  law,  but  yet,  many  of  them  who  are  fully 
equal  to  the  task  of  citizenship  are  illegally  denied  the  right  to 
vote.  We  Americans  write  and  read  of  the  horrible  way  in 
which  the  Jews  are  treated  by  the  Rumanians,  how  the 
Rumanian  government  made  the  Jews  serve  in  the  army  and 
yet  denied  them  the  right  of  citizenship.  But  right  here  in  "free" 
America  the  Negroes  were  drafted  and  made  serve  in  the  army 
and  fight  in  France,  and  yet  when  it  comes  to  having  a  voice  in 
the  Government  they  are  treated  as  aliens.  But  things  are 
changing  in  the  South,  and  to-day  many  Negroes  are  voting. 
The  great  trouble  in  the  South  is  old  party  lines.  If  these  could 
be  changed  in  order  to  do  away  with  the  idea  prevalent  in  the  South 
that  the  white  man  must  vote  the  Democratic  ticket  to  hold 
" white  supremacy,"  and  the  Negro  must  vote  the  straight 
Republican  ticket,  conditions  would  doubtless  be  better.  These 
things  cause  the  two  races  to  stand  apart  politically  when  really 
their  interests  are  the  same,  and  cause  many  Negroes  to  be 
denied  the  right  of  suffrage.  A  complete  breaking  up  of  the  old 
parties  and  party  ideas  would  probably  bring  quick  relief  to  the 
illegal  methods,  but  as  it  is,  things  are  changing.  Many  Negroes 
in  the  South  are  voting  to-day  and  their  number  seems  to  be 
rapidly  increasing.  According  to  the  newspapers,  after  the 
Presidential  election,  many  Negroes  broke  their  historical 
allegiance  to  the  Republican  party  in  several  places  in  the  South. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Republican  party  is  gaining  many  whites 
in  the  South.  I  think  things  are  changing  for  the  better  along 
political  lines  in  the  South.  The  Negro  as  he  shows  himself 
industrious,  progressive,  honest,  chaste,  loyal  to  his  family  and 
community  is  winning  his  full  manhood  in  the  South. 

While  the  Southern  States  were  passing  these  restrictive 
registration  laws  and  for  some  time  afterwards,  the  South  was 
condemned  very  severely  by  the  North,  but  for  the  last  few  years 
this  condemnation  has  about  ceased.  This  indicates  that  a 
change  is  taking  place  in  the  North.  The  North  is  more  than 
half  convinced  that  the  South  was  right  in  imposing  some 


88        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

limitation  upon  the  franchise.  The  Northern  people  have  come 
to  see,  just  as  the  Southern  people  saw  at  the  time  that  the  Negro 
was  not  prepared  for  citizenship.  But  to-day  those  that  vote  in 
South  are  fully  equal  to  the  task  of  citizenship. 

But  what  are  the  conditions  in  the  North?  After  the  Civil 
War  the  Negro  was  very  popular  in  the  North.  He  often  received 
special  honors.  Often  he  was  an  office  holder.  ^But  a  change 
has  also  been  taking  place  in  the  North.  The  conspicuousness 
of  the  Negro  at  elections  has  been  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  race 
prejudice.  Of  course  the  Negro  vote  is  important  if  he  holds 
the  balance  of  power  in  the  city,  town,  or  ward,  otherwise  he  is 
not  consulted  or  given  any  of  the  spoils.  Thus  finding  their 
votes  not  needed  or  sought,  many  of  the  better  class  do  not  vote. 
This  does  not  make  any  difference,  however,  for  the  ward  bosses 
have  the  names  of  all  who  registered,  and  vote  all  who  do  not 
come  to  the  polls.  Of  those  who  do  come,  they  are  met  before 
they  get  to  the  polls,  and  if  they  will  sell  their  vote  it  is  bought  for 
a  trifle. 

The  South  disfranchises  the  Negro  by  law  and  other  illegal 
methods,  and  the  North  disfranchises  him  by  money  and  other 
illegal  methods.  The  Negr&ypte  is  bought , and.  .sold  i**4he  open 
market  in  practically "atfof  our  Northern  cities  and  towns.  The 
Negroes  vote  en  bloc;  they  vote  cheap,  and  are  easily  controlled. 
"They  do  not  get  as  much  political  recognition  as  the  Italians, 
k.  Irish,  Jews  and  some  other  foreigners.  \There  is  not  the  first 
principle  of  right  in  much  of  our  dealing/with  the  Negro  politi 
cally  to-day.  They  are  thoroughly  American  in  spirit,  habit,  taste, 
hope,  and  aspirations.  They  are  what  we  trained  them  to  be  in 
more  ways  than  one.  Politically,  they  are  "bone  of  our  bone 
and  flesh  of  our  flesh."  When  a  Negro  is  capable  of  voting 
intelligently  according  to  law,  he  should  be  permitted  to  vote 
just  as  any  other  citizen  and  no  one  should  be  permitted  to 
hinder  or  try  to  buy  him.  As  long  as  the  white  people  allow 
such  things  to  be  carried  on,  so  long  will  we  have  corrupt  politics, 
and  so  long  will  the  Negro  be  hindered  in  gaining  his  full  manhood. 

In  the  North  to-day,  we  find  that  Negroes  are  being  thrown 
out  of  office  and  white  men  put  in  their  places.  And  this 
movement  is  not  merely  local,  but  has  extended  to  the  Federal 
Government.  Mr.  M.  R-.  Smith — a  white  man — was  appointed 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States         89 

as  minister  to  the  colored  Republic  of  Hayti.  The  Negroes  had 
held  this  office  so  long  that  they  considered  it  theirs.  Then  a 
colored  Democrat  failed  to  go  through  as  Register  of  the  Treasury. 
The  North  American  of  June  9,  1916,  told  of  President  Wilson 
sending  to  the  Senate  the  nomination  of  John  F.  Castello  as 
Recorder  of  Deeds  for  the  District  of  Columbia.  This  office 
had  been  held  by  Negroes  for  twenty  years.  Mr.  Baker  says 
that  the  Negroes  are  worried  over  the  changing  attitude  of  the 
Federal  Government.  "The  movement  to  segregate  Negro 
workmen  in  the  department  at  Washington  and  the  failure  of 
the  Democratic  Administration  to  reappoint  most  of  the  Negroes 
who  occupied  important  Federal  positions  have  been  regarded 
as  a  body  blow  at  their  aspirations.  The  pressure  in  the  last 
Congress  for  discriminatory  legislation,  including  bills  for  pre 
venting  Negro  immigrants,  for  forcing  segregation  in  the  street 
cars  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  threat  to  cut  off  entirely 
the  appropriation  of  Howard  University,  one  of  their  best 
educational  institutions,  have  all  added  to  their  fear  and  dis 
trust." 

In  Congress,  April  30,  1916,  they  had  a  great  discussion  over 
the  Negro  question.  One  thing,  at  least,  is  interesting  in  their 
speeches.  L.  M.  Shaw,  former  Republican  Governor  of  Iowa,  \ 
and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  Roosevelt,  said:  "If  I  had 
my  way,  the  Republican  party  would  put  in  its  platform  a 
plank  like  this:  'we  believe  in  equal  rights,  equal  opportunities 
under  the  law,  but  in  the  selection  of  officers,  conditions  being  as 
they  are,  we  deem  it  the  part  of  wisdom  to  select  from  that  race 
which  for  all  time  has  been  and  for  all  time  must  be  the  governing 
race.'  Such  a  plank  would  break  the  'Solid  South'."26 

I  believe  the  white  people  in  the  North  and  West  are  as  much 
opposed  to  Negro  office  holders  as  the  South.  As  to  what  the 
tendency  to  eliminate  Negro  office  holders  will  bring  forth  can 
hardly  be  more  than  a  guess.  At  least  we  may  say  the  Negro  is 
losing  out  as  a  political  unit  in  the  North  and  West,  and  also 
in  the  Federal  Government.  Recently  there  has  been  some 
discussion  regarding  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amendments. 
Some  advocate  their  repeal.  They  seem  to  be  valueless  to-day. 
When  a  State  seeks  to  evade  them  she  finds  a  way  of  doing  so, 

26  Raleigh  News  and  Observer,  May  1, 1916. 


90          Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  Stotes 

and  gains  what  she  desires  regardless  of  these  amendments. 
Civil  Rights  Bills  and  Federal  Amendments  are  no  more  than 
scraps  of  paper  when  either  South,  North  or  West  wishes  to 
mistreat  the  Negro. 

I  do  not  think  the  South  is  as  opposed  to  Negro  officers  now  as 
she  used  to  be.  Gilford  Troup,  a  Negro  of  Lawrence  county, 
Alabama,  has  for  the  past  twenty-four  years  been  a  justice  of  the 
peace.  For  the  past  fourteen  years  he  has  been  elected  by  the 
white  voters  of  the  district.  Can  we  imagine  such  a  thing  taking 
place  immediately  after  the  Civil  War?  I  think  the  white  South 
is  becoming  willing  that  Negroes  should  have  certain  offices  as 
they  show  themselves  capable. 

In  all  the  States,  courts  are  free.  The  Negro  can  sit  where  he 
pleases.  There  is,  however,  a  custom  in  some  places  which 
separates  the  two  races,  the  white  people  sitting  on  one  side  and 
the  colored  people  on  the  other.  This  is  quite  common  in  the 
South,  but  quite  often  there  is  no  distinction  made. 

There  are  a  number  of  counties  both  North  and  South  where 
Negroes  do  not  serve  on  the  jury.  I  find  that  they  do  serve  in 
many  places  in  the  South,  and  their  number  is  increasing.  The 
white  men  have  power  to  keep  any  Negro  off  the  jury  if  they  so 
desire,  but  as  the  Negro  increases  in  intelligence  and  wealth, 
more  and  more  he  is  permitted  to  serve  as  juror. 

I  find  very  few  complaints  of  recent  years  coming  from  Negroes 
that  they  are  treated  unjustly  by  the  courts.  They  are  tried  in  a 
court  where  the  judge  is  a  white  man,  the  jury  is  composed  of 
white  men,  or  a  majority  of  its  members  are  white  men,  and 
usually  defended  by  a  white  lawyer,  yet  they  seem  to  be  getting 
justice.  Surely  this  speaks  well  for  our  courts. 


CHAPTER  VI 


SEX  RELATIONSHIP  AND  CRIME 

One  could  scarcely  deal  with  sex  relationship  and  crime  with 
out  mentioning  social  equality.  Indeed,  this  aspect  of  the 
question  runs  through  all  of  our  discussions  on  race  problems. 
Social  equality  is  the  torrid  zone  of  our  discussions  on  race 
problems.  Whatever  the  vague  yet  comprehensive  term  "  social 
equality"  may  embrace,  it  is  the  bugaboo  of  the  South  and  is 
becoming  so  in  the  North.  To-day  it  is  the  shibboleth  which 
divides  the  races  asunder.  It  is  the  slogan,  which  like  a  savage 
warwhoop,  arouses  the  deepest  venom  of  the  race  which  after  all 
slumbers  only  skin  deep  under  a  thin  veneer  of  civilization. 

The  South  has  always  had  a  grave  fear  of  anything  which  she 
considered  leading  to  social  equality  solely  because  she  thinks  it 
leads  to  interracial  sex  relationship  and  interracial  marriage. 
Were  it  not  for  this  belief  she  would  care  little  about  social 
equality.  In  the  minds  of  most  Southern  people,  and  a  surpris 
ingly  large  number  of  Northern  people,  this  is  what  social  equality 
means.  Only  recently  has  this  idea  gotten  hold  of  the  minds  of 
£  the  Northern  people  to  any  appreciable  extent.  President 
Elliot  of  Harvard  University  has  told  us  that  the  wlifte^inan* 
of  the  North  is  not  less  averse  than  his  Southern  brother  to  the 
social  mingling  of  the  races.  It  has  been  more  apparent  in  the 
South  because  there  has  always  been  more  Negroes,  but  now 
it  is  becoming  apparent  in  the  North  as  the  Negro  population  in 
creases. 

--The  North  has  gone  on  the  assumption  that  the  two  races 
would  not  "mix"  or  marry.  The  South  has  worked  on  the 
assumption  that  they  would  mix  and  marry  if  not  prevented. 
What  has  really  happened  is  that  the  South  has  had  more  social 
equality  than  the  North  but  she  did  not  know  it.  She  has  always 
had  more  sexual  relationship,  especially  prior  to  and  immediately 
after  the  Civil  War.  The  North,  up  to  a  few  years  ago,  made 
a  great  display  of  her  associations  with  the  Negro.  Some  wealthy 
man  would  give  a  dinner  or  dance  and  invite  one  or  two  of  the 

91 


92         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

best  Negroes.  The  newspapers  would  report  this  and  add 
condemning  words  concerning  the  South.  But  such  occasions 
as  these  seem  to  be  almost  unknown  in  the  North  to-day.  The 
Southern  white  and  Negro  women  have  more  social  equality 
around  the  wash-tub  than  the  Negro  gets  out  of  a  Negro-white 
" blowout"  in  the  North,  to  say  nothing  of  the  numerous  other 
social  contracts  of  the  two  races.  The  difference  is  a  different 
label. 

1.  The  constitutions  of  six  States:  Alabama,  Florida,  Missis 
sippi,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Tennessee,  prohibit 
Negro-white  intermarriage.  Twenty-three  other  States  now  have 
laws  prohibiting  Negro-white  intermarriage.  They  are :  Arizona, 
Arkansas,  California,  Colorado,  Delaware,  Georgia,  Idaho, 
Indiana,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Maryland,  Missouri,  Montana, 
Nebraska,  Nevada,  Oklahoma,  North  Dakota,  Oregon,  South 
Dakota,  Texas,  Utah,  Virginia,  and  West  Virginia.  In  the  other 
States  there  are  no  laws  against  interracial  marriage.  In  the 
year  of  1913  bills  were  introduced  in  ten  of  these  States  but  were 
defeated,  largely  through  the  influence  of  the  National  Associa 
tion  for  the  Advancement  of  Colored  People.  These  ten  States 
were:  Pennsylvania,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  New  York, 
Minnesota,  Illinois,  Kansas,  and  Washington.  One  can  see  by 
this  that  some  of  the  Northern  States  have  legislated  against  the 
Negro,  and  in  other  States  there  is  a  strong  sentiment  for  such 
legislation.  The  New  England  States,  New  Jersey,  Wyoming,  and 
New  Mexico  have  not  tried  in  recent  years  to  pass  any  laws 
against  Negro-white  intermarriage.  Massachusetts  and  prob 
ably  some  of  the  other  States  had  a  law  prohibiting  Negro- 
white  intermarriage  several  years  before  the  Civil  War. 

Louisiana  not  only  has  a  law  against  Negro-white  intermarriage 
but  also  a  law  against  concubinage.  South  Carolina  and  Nevada 
have  laws  against  Negro-white  cohabitation. 

Nebraska  passed  her  law  against  Negro-white  intermarriage 
in  1913.  The  cause  for  passing  this  law  seems  to  be  as  follows: 
On  Easter  night,  1913,  a  terrific  storm  swept  over  Omaha  and 
destroyed  about  everything  which  the  Negroes  possessed.  The 
Negroes  immediately  sent  for  their  relatives  and  friends.  The 
result  was  the  gathering  of  hundreds  of  Southern  Negroes  in 
Omaha.  The  Negroes  from  the  other  towns  saw  how  well  the 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States  93 

Negroes  in  Omaha  were  being  treated  so  they  decided  to  take  up 
their  abode  there.  This  gave  Omaha  a  considerable  Negro 
population.  It  is  said  that  "they  took  possession  of  the  city." 
The  result  was  the  law  against  Negro-white  intermarriage. 

The  Johnson-Jeffries  fight  at  Reno,  Nevada,  July  4,  1910, 
caused  a  number  of  race  riots  in  the  South.  It  also  caused 
considerable  race  feeling  all  over  the  United  States,  especially  in 
some  of  the  Western  States.  Five  of  these  States  have  passed  the 
anti-Negro-white  marriage  laws  since  that  fight.  It  probably 
had  something  to  do  with  the  passage  of  these  laws. 

One  does  not  go  far  into  the  study  of  the  Negro-white  race 
problem  until  he  finds  himself  face  to  face  with  the  curious  and 
seemingly  absurd  question :  What  is  a  Negro?  To  the  popular 
mind  any  one  is  a  Negro  who  has  any  Negro  blood  in  his  veins. 
We  often  see  people  who  could  pass  for  white  anywhere,  yet  they 
are  classed  as  Negroes.  Then  again  we  see  people  who  undoubt 
edly  have  Negro  blood  in  their  veins  passing  for  white.  We  are 
satisfied  to  let  any  one  who  has  Negro  blood  in  his  veins  pass  for 
a  Negro,  but  we  are  not  willing  for  one  who  has  a  drop  of 
Negro  blood  in  his  veins  to  pass  for  white  if  we  know  it.  South 
ern  white  people  pride  themselves  on  being  able  to  distinguish 
any  Negro  blood  in  any  one,  but  nevertheless,  they  sometimes 
make  mistakes.  More  than  one  man  has  had  to  pay  the  penalty 
for  making  this  mistake.  A  few  years  ago  a  new  principal  came 
to  the  writer's  home  to  take  charge  of  the  high  school.  Not 
long  afterwards  he  met  two  girls  on  the  street.  He  stopped  them 
and  asked  why  they  did  not  come  to  school.  One  replied:  "We 
goes  to  de  colored  school."  He  went  on  down  the  street  some 
what  mortified,  nevertheless  he  enjoyed  the  joke.  On  several 
occasions  I  have  mistaken  mulattoes  for  white  people.  One 
night  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  I  attended  a  large  gathering  of 
Negroes,  at  which  Dr.  Du  Bois  was  the  speaker.  As  I  sat  there 
looking  out  over  the  large  audience  I  said  to  one  sitting  by  me, 
this  may  be  a  congregation  of  Negroes  but  it  looks  to  me  that 
half  of  them  are  white  people.  On  another  occasion  I  was  in  a 
large  Negro  church  in  Kentucky.  I  asked  a  cultured  Negro 
sitting  by  my  side  if  many  white  people  came  to  church  here. 
He  said  that  quite  a  number  attended  church  there,  some  regularly 
because  it  was  quite  a  distance  to  a  white  church  of  that  denom- 


94        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  S  ates 

ination — Methodist.  I  asked  if  any  white  people  were  members 
of  that  church.  He  said  that  they  were  not  members.  Then, 
I  asked,  why  that  white  man  was  giving  out  song-books.  He  an 
swered  that  he  was  not  a  white  man.  I  replied  that  while  he 
might  not  pass  as  a  white  man  he  could  if  he  wished  to  do  so  any 
where,  for  he  had  not  ten  drops  of  Negro  blood  in  him. 

The  law  must  draw  the  line  somewhere  to  avoid  endless  con 
fusion.  The  laws  of  most  of  the  States  state  what  they  consider 
a  Negro,  but  some  are  very  indefinite.  Some  simply  say 
" Negro, "  others  say  " Negro  or  mulatto,"  "Any  person  of 
African  descent,"  "Negro  to  the  third  generation."  Eleven 
declare  them  Negroes  as  long  as  they  have  one-eighth  Negro 
blood.  In  Alabama  a  Negro  is  a  Negro  forever.  In  some  of  the 
States  a  Negro  breeds  "white"  in  the  fourth  generation  if  one 
ancestor  in  each  generation  is  a  white  person.  But  many  of  these 
statements  give  us  as  unsatisfactory  an  answer  as  could  have 
been  given  to  Hugh  Kelly,  who  asked:  "My  father's  father  was 
a  Black  Hawk  Indian,  seven  feet  tall.  My  father 's  mother  was 
an  Irish-woman.  My  mother's  father  was  an  American  white 
man.  Her  mother  was  a  full-blooded  African  woman.  What 
ami?" 

In  the  States  which  have  no  laws  against  Negro-white  inter 
marriage,  very  few  mixed  marriages  occur.  They  have  rapidly 
decreased  for  the  last  few  years.  Boston  in  1905  had  over  12,000 
Negroes,  yet  she  had  only  19  mixed  marriages,  sixteen  less  than 
in  1900.  It  seems  strange  that  they  should  decline  so  rapidly  in 
Boston — the  city  that  has  always  been  so  liberal  toward  the 
Negro.  In  practically  all  the  Northern  cities  the  Negro  popula 
tion  has  increased  at  a  remarkable  rate,  but  the  marriages 
between  the  races  have  decreased  very  rapidly.  The  Negro- 
white  intermarriage  is  usually  consummated  by  a  Negro  man 
marrying  a  white  woman;  the  reverse  is  seldom  the  phenomenon. 
The  white  women  who  marry  Negroes  are  generally  ignorant 
foreigners,  and  are  socially  ostracized,  for  generally  speaking, 
neither  race  will  have  much  to  do  with  the  couple. 

I  believe  the  chief  reason  why  the  mixed  marriages  are  decreas 
ing  in  the  Northern  cities  is  that  there  is  an  increasing  Negro 
population,  composed  chiefly  of  recent  immigrants  from  the 
South.  These  are  generally  of  the  lower  class  of  Negroes,  a 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States         95 

lower  class  than  those  brought  up  in  the  North.  These  have 
awakened  the  slumbering  race  prejudice  that  remains  thinly 
veiled  in  all  Caucasians.  The  low  class  of  Negroes  will  often 
marry  a  white  woman,  but  I  do  not  believe  the  better  class  of 
Negroes  want  amalgamation,  miscegenation,  or  to  be  Caucasian- 
ized.  I  have  asked  a  number  of  them  but  I  never  received  an 
affirmative  answer.  One  of  my  university  class-mates  replied 
to  the  question:  "Such  as  I  could  get,  I  would  not  have,  and 
such  as  I  would  have,  I  cannot  get. "  I  do  not  think  the  Negroes 
oppose  the  laws  against  Negro-white  intermarriage  because  they 
want  intermarriage  to  take  place,  but  rather  because  it  leaves 
the  Negro  girl  with  less  protection  than  a  brute.  If  the  Negro 
girl  is  impregnated  by  a  white  man,  her  child,  under  the  law, 
is  declared  a  bastard  and  she  has  no  chance  of  gaining  redress. 
The  white  man  sows  the  whirlwind  and  looks  for  no  crop.  He 
certainly  does  not  receive  any  according  to  law.  The  trouble 
with  the  laws  is  that  they  lead  to  concubinage,  bastardy,  and  the 
degradation  of  the  Negro  women.  They  leave  the  Negro  girl 
helpless  before  the  lust  of  the  white  man.  She  is  already  almost 
helpless  before  the  lust  of  the  Negro  "buck,"  and  if  she  is  left 
helpless  before  the  white  man  also,  what  is  to  become  of  her? 
How  can  the  Negro  race  improve  without  protection  to  their 
girls  ?  These  Negro  girls  need  protection  just  as  much  as  the 
white  girls,  and  they  need  far  more  training  in  morality.  I  do 
not  think  any  one  should  advocate  intermarriage  between  any 
races,  certainly  not  between  African  and  Caucasian.  And 
certainly  illegal  cohabitation  should  be  branded  as  infamous  by 
all  races.  What  I  do  think  we  need  is  less  law  and  more  dis 
tinctive  education  of  the  two  races,  especially  the  lower  classes 
of  the  races.  The  laws  were  intended  to  stop  the  infusion  of 
white  blood  with  black.  But  in  this  they  certainly  have  not 
accomplished  what  they  were  designed  to  do,  and  if  this  is  all 
they  were  expected  to  do  they  are  worthless. 

2.  No  one  phase  of  the  race  question  has  aroused  more 
acrimonious  discussion  than  that  of  the  mulatto.  The  increase 
of  mulattoes,  their  fertility,  physical  strength,  intelligence,  etc., 
have  all  been  potent  points  in  the  discussions. 

Mulattoes  come  about  in  two  ways :  first,  through  the  mating 
of  mulattoes  with  mulattoes  or  blacks;  second,  through  the 


96          Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

mating  of  whites  with  mulattoes  or  blacks.  There  is  a  mistaken 
idea  on  the  part  of  many  people  in  thinking  that  all  Negroes 
brought  here  from  Africa  were  black.  There  is  a  large  belt 
across  central  Africa  in  which  the  Negroes  from  the  earliest 
records  were  mulattoes.  There  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  these 
were  brought  here  and  sold  along  with  the  blacks. 

Before  the  Civil  War  many  white  men  became  the  fathers  of 
mulattoes.  Some  of  these  men  were  or  later  became  governors, 
senators,  congressmen — the  best  blood  of  the  South.  These 
mulattoes  usually  were  treated  much  better  and  received  better 
instruction  than  the  black  slaves.  They  were  the  masters' 
sons  and  daughters,  so  were  used  as  house  servants  and  were  not 
put  out  in  the  fields  at  hard  labor.  Often  they  were  set  free 
at  their  masters'  death.  After  the  Civil  War  many  well-to-do 
white  men  had  their  black  families  as  well  as  their  white  families. 
The  black  families  were  usually  well  cared  for.  This  system  of 
concubinage  was  a  common  thing  for  many  years  after  the  war, 
and  is  not  unknown  in  the  South  to-day.  There  is,  however,  a 
strong  sentiment  developing  through  the  South  against  this 
practice.  Leagues  among  both  whites  and  blacks  are  being 
formed  in  many  places  to  try  to  stop  the  mixing  of  the  races, 
and  preachers  and  other  public  men  are  speaking  in  no  unmis 
takable  terms  against  it.  I  shall  never  forget  the  look  of  despair 
on  a  Negro  minister's  face,  as  we  were  talking  of  the  mulatto 
problem,  when  he  said :  "  For  God 's  sake  do  something  to  stop  it. 
It  lies  in  the  hands  of  you  young  Southern  white  men  to  create 
such  a  sentiment  against  it  that  it  will  be  stopped.  Unless  you 
do  the  Negro  race  is  ruined."  Laws  cannot  stop  it.  I  think, 
however,  if  the  social  forces  are  allowed  to  take  their  course,  that 
with  development,  the  practice  will  pass  away  naturally. 

According  to  the  census  report  there  were  2,050,686  mulattoes 
in  the  United  States  in  1910.  In  1890  there  were  1,132,060.  I 
am  aware  that  these  figures  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  be  absolutely 
accurate  for  there  are  many  Negroes  who  have  Indian,  Chinese, 
Japanese,  etc.,  blood  in  their  veins  and  are  classed  as  mulattoes. 
Then  there  are  many  Negroes  who  have  white  blood  in  their 
veins  but  do  not  show  it,  so  are  classed  as  black.  Then  there 
are  some  mulattoes  who  have  "gone  over  to  the  whites."  The 
latter  class  often  change  their  names  and  say  they  are  Mexican, 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States         97 

Armenian,  Italian,  Brazilian,  etc.  I  feel  that  these  figures, 
though  large,  are  not  sufficient  to  give  us  much  alarm  of  race 
amalgamation.  The  ante-bellum  and  post-bellum  practice  of 
concubinage  doubtless  accounts  for  thousands  of  our  mulattoes 
to-day.  A  glance  at  table  VIII  shows  that  the  percentage  of 
mulattoes  between  1890  and  1900  decreased  in  twenty-five  States. 
I  agree  with  Mr.  McCord,  who  says: 

"The  fact  that  sexual  relations  between  the  races  is  becoming 
more  and  more  confined  to  dissolute  white  men  and  Negro 
prostitutes  who,  in  common  with  all  prostitutes,  bear  few  children 
and  rear  fewer  of  them,  is  rapidly  curtailing  the  infusion  of  white 
blood.  The  further  fact,  also,  that  children  from  such  unions 
suffer  from  both  vicious  environment  and  degenerate  heredity 
tends  to  make  them  less  prolific,  even  if  they  reach  maturity,  and 
to  eliminate  them  by  early  death,  thus  cutting  off  their  future 
propagation. 

"I  should  say  then,  upon  the  whole,  that  inter-racial  amal 
gamation  has  taken  place  to  an  appreciable  extent,  but  to  no  such 
extent  as  is  claimed  by  many  writers.     Nor  is  the  process  going 
on  to  the  same  extent  now  as  formerly  except  through  mulatto/ 
parents. " 

The  whites  who  usually  cohabit  with  Negro  women  to-day  are 
generally  white  boys,  usually  under  the  age  of  twenty  years,  and 
old,  broken-down,  worn-out  men,  neither  of  whom  are  fit  to 
beget  children.  This  is  quite  different  from  before  and  for  some 
years  after  the  Civil  War,  when  the  best  blood  was  infused  into 
the  Negro.  The  mulattoes  from  such  unions  could  justly  be 
proud  of  their  ancestors  and  win  distinction  as  many  of  them  did. 
But  the  mulatto  which  results  from  the  union  of  white  and  black 
to-day  has  quite  a  different  ancestry.  Considering  this,  it  is 
marvelous  that  they  are  not  more  criminal  than  they  really  are. 
The  crime  of  mulattoes  is  usually  against  property  while  that 
of  blacks  is  generally  against  person.  The  influence  of  the  white 
blood  may  have  something  to  do  with  this.  It  is  stated  that 
mulattoes  are  not  as  prolific  as  whites  or  blacks  and  that  they  stop 
breeding  by  the  fourth  generation  unless  mixed  back  with  pure 
stock;  yet,  I  feel  that  most  of  the  mulattoes  of  to-day  are  the 
children  of  mulattoes.  I  think  there  are  fewer  whites  mixing 
with  Negroes  than  formerly,  and  I  think  this  same  force  is 


98         Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

working  between  mulattoes  and  blacks.  "  Quadroons,  octoroons 
and  pure  mulattoes  marry,  but  a  flat-nosed,  thick-lipped  African 
must  mate  with  his  color  and  kind. " 

There  is  a  prevalent  idea  through  the  country  that  mulattoes 
are  more  intelligent  than  pure  Negroes.  This  is  doubtless  true 
of  the  older  generation  of  mulattoes,  for  as  I  have  said  they  had 
much  excellent  white  blood  in  their  veins,  and  had  better  training, 
better  environment,  etc.  Many  leaders  of  the  Negro  race  have 
been  and  are  mulattoes,  as,  Du  Bois,  Washington,  Douglass, 
Chestnut,  Stanley,  Tanner,  Terrell,  etc.,  but  there  are  notable 
exceptions,  as,  Vernon,  Miller,  Dunbar,  Price,  and  Mason. 
According  to  the  records  being  kept  at  Hampton  Institute,  the 
black  Negro  of  to-day  is  just  as  intelligent  as  the  mulatto. 
About  an  equal  number  of  pure  Negroes  and  mulattoes  have 
made  advancement  in  their  studies  and  at  their  work.  The 
most  intelligent  Negro  I  think  I  ever  heard  talk  was  undoubtedly 
a  pure  Negro,  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  honor  of  Harvard  Univer 
sity. 

As  has  been  indicated,  many  mulattoes  "  cross  the  line"- 
become  white.  Many  can  pass  for  white  and  some  do  in  order 
to  escape  race  prejudice  and  to  gain  greater  economic  freedom. 
But  there  are  many  who  could  pass  easily  for  white  that  choose 
to  remain  Negroes.  Of  course  the  Negro  race  never  loses  any 
of  the  Negro  blood  if  the  white  people  either  North  or  South 
know  it.  They  class  them  as  Negroes  socially,  economically, 
etc.,  just  as  long  as  they  know  they  have  any  Negro  blood  in 
their  veins.  The  reason  more  do  not  pass  as  white  is  that  they  are 
afraid  it  will  be  discovered.  They  are  afraid  that  some  one  who 
has  known  them  before  as  Negroes  will  come  into  their  town. 
The  Negroes  will  not  disclose  their  identity,  but  the  whites  will. 
Then  they  are  afraid  that  if  they  marry  there  will  be  a  child  in 
the  family  with  a  darker  hue,  and  thus  their  real  identity  will  be 
discovered.  They  feel  that  they  are  a  deceiver  and  they  often 
testify  that  they  cannot  endure  living  this  sneaking  life.  They 
prefer  to  be  Dr.  Jekyll  in  Negro  society  rather  than  Mr.  Hyde 
among  the  whites.  So  they  voluntarily  choose  to  be  Negroes. 
Professor  Du  Bois  could  pass  anywhere  for  an  Italian  professor, 
or  a  Parisian  maitre  d'escrinie,  yet  he  prefers  to  remain  a  Negro. 
Race  prejudice  does  a  bit  of  good  here  to  the  lower  class  of  Negro 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States         99 

by  forcing  the  well  educated,  progressive  mulatto  and  pure  blood 
back  into  Negro  society,  and  causes  them  to  help  solve  the  prob 
lems  of  the  Negro  race. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  developing  very  definitely,  in  some 
places,  a  mulatto  society  which  comes  in  between  the  whites  and 
pure  Negroes.  Some  social  sets  and  some  churches  are  composed 
entirely  of  mulattoes.  There  is  a  church  in  Philadelphia  where 
the  membership  is  composed  almost  entirely  of  mulattoes  and  it 
is  generally  understood  that  they  do  not  want  pure  Negroes  as 
members. 

3.     I  have  chosen  to  treat  crime,  race  riots  and  lynchings  all 
together.     Some  very  definite  lines  could  be  drawn  between 
them,  but  for  my  purpose,  I  think  it  better  to  consider  them  all 
together  without  trying  to  draw  any  visible  lines  of  demarcation. 
Before  the   Civil  War  the  Negro  race  had  no  appreciable 
criminal  record  behind  it  in  this  country.     In  slavery  it  did  not 
have  an  opportunity  to  commit  many  crimes  successfully.     But 
immediately  after  the  Civil  War  was  over  this  race  started  to 
make  a  criminal  record  that  has  grown,  widened  and  intensified 
as  the  years  have  passed.     Still  I  doubt  if  its  criminal  record  is 
any  more  serious  than  that  of  any  other  primitive  people  in  like 
surroundings.     The  Negro  en  masse  is  still  a  primitive  people, 
and  from  this  group  comes  the  element  that  is  making  the 
criminal  record.     The  defective  family  life  and  training  is,  I 
think,  the  chief  cause  of  criminality  among  the  Negroes  just  as  it 
is  among  other  peoples.     Under  the  slavery  regime  the  Negro 
had  practically  no  family  life,  and  since  slavery  many  of  them 
have  failed  to  develop  what  would  be  classed  as  a  real  family 
life.     The  stringent  economic  conflict  prevents  many  of  them 
from  having  what  may  be  termed  a  family  life.     They  are  hud 
dled  together  in  cabins;  the  father  and  mother  have  to  be  away 
from  home  working  to  support  the  family,  and  the  children  are 
left  to  grow  up  in  unwholesome  environments,  surrounded  by 
vice  and  cfime  of  all  descriptions  without  any  definite  training 
to  develop  character. 

Under  the  slavery  regime  the  Negro  would  steal  things  from 
his  master.  They  belonged  to  his  master  as  did  he,  and  so  he 
thought  it  made  no  difference  for  him  to  appropriate  them  to 
his  own  use  if  the  master  did  not  catch  him.  This  seems  to  be  a 


100        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

trait  which  the  Negroes  have  never  been  able  to  overcome. 
Even  to-day  Southern  people  seem  to  expect  about  every  Negro 
whom  they  employ  to  steal,  and  they  are  prone  to  excuse  them 
on  the  ground  that  "  darkies  are  darkies, "  so  you  need  not  expect 
any  better  of  them.  They  are  expected  to  steal  part  of  the 
clothes  which  they  wash  and  part  of  the  food  which  they  cook, 
to  say  nothing  of  robbing  the  hen-roost.  Yet  Southern  people 
kindly  wink  at  these  small  thievings  which  are  liable  to  develop 
into  atrocious  crimes  later.  If  all  of  the  Southern  people  would 
do  as  most  of  the  Northern  people  do,  demand  that  the  Negroes 
whom  they  employ  shall  be  truthful,  honest,  and  moral,  and  not 
employ  them  unless  they  maintain  that  standard,  I  think  the 
criminal  record  of  the  next  generation  would  be  considerably 
diminished.  As  it  is,  it  is  rapidly  increasing  and  the  white  people 
are  partly  to  be  blamed  for  it. 

As  to  what  is  to  become  of  the  Negro  race  unless  they  conquer 
their  criminal  tendencies,  it  is  hard  to  say.  The  leaders  of  the 
Negro  race  are  putting  up  a  strong  fight  to  check  their  criminal 
record.  Just  now  the  physical  continuance  of  the  Negro  race 
is  threatened  by  its  criminal  and  moral  status.  Du  Bois  says: 
"The  Negro  Academy  ought  to  sound  a  note  of  warning  that 
would  echo  in  every  black  cabin  in  the  land.  Unless  we  conquer 
our  present  vices,  they  will  conquer  us.  We  are  diseased.  We 
are  developing  criminal  tendencies,  and  an  alarmingly  large  per 
centage  of  our  men  and  women  are  sexually  impure." 

The  criminal  record  of  the  Negro  shows  a  steady  increase.  It 
shows  a  higher  increase  in  the  North  than  in  the  South.  This  is 
due  partly  to  the  mobile  element  which  shifts  to  places  of  greatest 
attraction.  They  leave  what  little  home  life  they  have  in  the 
rural  districts  of  the  South  and  go  to  the  Northern  cities  where 
there  is  less  restraint  and  greater  opportunity  for  crime.  But 
this  does  away  with  the  Northern  idea  that  the  Negro  is  more 
criminal  in  the  South,  and  that  it  is  caused  by  Southern  courts 
dealing  unjustly  with  them.  In  1904  there  were  7,527  Negroes 
in  Northern  prisons  and  18,550  in  Southern.  In  1910  there  were 
10,081  Negroes  in  Northern  prisons  and  28,620  in  Southern.  In 
1904  there  were  50,111  whites  in  prisons  and  72,797  in  1910.  In 
1904  the  number  of  prisoners  per  100,000  of  the  population  was 
for  whites,  75;  for  Negroes,  277.  In  1910  the  number  for  whites 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States       101 

was  89;  for  Negroes  375.  In  1904  the  rate  of  Negro  prisoners 
per  100,000  Negro  population  was  765  for  the  Northern  States 
and  220  for  the  Southern  States.  In  1910  it  was  732  in  the 
Northern  States  and  323  in  the  Southern  States. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Negro  has  a  relatively  lower 
percentage  of  crime  than  the  immigrant  races  which  are  coming 
to  our  shores.  The  commitments  to  prison  in  1904  per  1,000  of 
certain  nationalities  were:  Mexican,  4.7;  Italian,  4.4;  Austrian, 
3.6;  French,  3.4;  Canadian,  3.0;  Russian,  2.8;  Poles,  2.7;  Negro, 
2.7.  For  the  same  year  those  committed  for  rape  per  100,000  of 
the  total  population  were:  All  white,  0.6;  Negro,  1.8;  Italian, 
5.3;  Mexican,  4.8;  Austrian,  3.2;  Hungarian,  2.0;  French,  1.9; 
Russian,  1.9 

Riots  and  lynchings  used  to  be  classed  as  peculiar  to  the  South. 
This  was  especially  true  for  several  years  after  the  Civil  War. 
But  as  early  as  1712  New  York  hanged  and  burnt  slaves  and  left 
some  in  chains  to  starve  to  death.  And  in  1741  the  city  of 
New  York  burnt  fourteen  Negroes  and  hanged  twenty-one. 

Many  Northern  writers  and  a  few  Europeans  have  criticized 
the  South  very  severely  for  her  methods  of  dealing  with  the  Negro. 
Some  of  the  Northern  writers  claim  that  the  Southern  people  do 
not  understand  the  Negroes  and  do  not  treat  them  as  they  should, 
that  if  they  did  they  would  have  no  trouble  with  the  Negroes. 
I  grant  that  often  the  Negro  receives  unjust  treatment  in  the 
South,  and  I  am  not  one  to  defend  one  thing  that  has  been  done 
which  I  think  unjust.  But  is  the  South  the  only  place  where  the 
Negro  is  treated  unjustly?  Is  the  South  the  only  place  where 
the  whites  have  trouble  with  the  Negroes?  It  is  unnecessary 
to  mention  in  any  detail  whatever  the  different  cases  of  lynchings, 
riots,  and  murders  of  Negroes  that  have  occurred  in  the  North, 
because  any  one  that  is  familiar  with  conditions  in  the  United 
States  for  the  last  five  years  knows  that  there  has  been  much  more 
trouble  between  the  white  and  colored  people  in  the  North  than 
there  has  been  in  the  South.  While  I  cannot  get  an  accurate 
record  of  all  the  lynchings,  riots,  and  murders  that  have  occurred 
in  the  United  States,  I  am  firmly  convinced  that,  if  it  were  cal 
culated  on  the  basis  of  Negro  population,  we  would  find  that  there 
have  been  more  Negroes  lynched,  more  murders  of  Negroes,  and 
more  riots  in  the  North  than  in  the  South  according  to  the 


102       Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

percentage  of  Negro  population  in  the  two  sections  of  the  country. 
Riots  to-day  seem  to  be  about  twenty-five  times  as  common  in 
the  North  as  in  the  South.  The  North  goes  after  the  whole  race 
while  the  South  goes  after  the  individual  Negro  criminal.  The 
South  has  nothing  to  compare  with  the  occurrences  of  East  St. 
Louis  and  Chicago.  The  riot  at  East  St.  Louis  bears  the  dis 
tinction  of  being  the  most  murderous  massacre  of  colored 
Americans  that  ever  occurred  in  our  country 's  history. 

What  shall  we  say  of  lynchings?  When  white  men  who  are 
supposed  to  be  living  in  the  crux  of  civilization  revert  to  primor 
dial  savagery,  what  may  we  expect  of  the  Negro?  Lynching  in 
this  country  is  peculiarly  the  white  man's  burden.  The  white 
people  have  taken  all  responsibility  of  government  into  their 
hands.  All  the  machinery  of  justice  is  in  their  hands,  yet 
lynchings  are  allowed  to  occur.  Mobs  are  symptoms  of  political 
rottenness,  and  a  government  does  not  exist  for  its  own  sake.  Its 
only  reason  d'etre  being  its  utility  as  an  agent  for  the  advance 
ment  of  the  common  welfare  and  the  promotion  of  individual 
prosperity  and  happiness.  Yet  the  government  allows  mobs  of 
white  citizens  to  lynch,  murder,  shoot,  and  burn  its  black 
citizens  and  go  free!  The  government  would  not  allow  horses 
to  be  burnt  in  such  a  cruel  and  horrible  manner  as  it  permits 
some  of  its  black  citizens  to  be. 

The  white  man  who  joins  a  mob  puts  himself,  by  his  very  acts, 
on  a  level  with  the  Negro  criminal.  If  our  civilization  does  mean 
self-control  and  self-restraint  it  means  nothing.  If  the  white 
man  casts  away  self-control  and  self-restraint  he  is  already  as 
savage  as  the  Negro  who  commits  the  most  dastardly  crime. 
It  is  commonly  said  that  a  criminal  father  is  a  poor  preacher  of 
homilies  to  a  wayward  son.  Yet  this  is  what  is  going  on.  The 
white  man  sets  the  example  of  non-obedience  to  law,  of  non- 
enforcement  of  law,  and  unequal  justice.  What  then  can  we 
expect  of  the  Negro?  Does  lynching  help  make  the  Negro 
obedient  to  law?  No.  How  could  it?  Lynching  serves  to 
stir  up  animosity  between  the  two  races.  The  Negro  lives 
according  to  the  standard  the  whites  in  his  community  set  for 
him.  If  the  white  people  in  a  community  are  law-abiding  the 
Negroes  usually  are.  The  Negro  sees  white  men  committing 
murder  over  and  over  again  in  all  these  lynchings  and  yet  go  free. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States       103 

Why  should  he  fear  to  murder?  And  how  should  he  regard  the 
law?  Few  words  in  the  English  language  are  too  strong  to 
condemn  a  mob  like  the  one  at  Springfield  which  lynched  an 
octogenarian  Negro  just  for  the  sake  of  killing— the  blood  lust. 
Then  there  is  the  mob  at  East  St.  Louis  which  burnt  310  Negro 
homes,  covering  sixteen  and  one  half  acres,  where  white  women 
beat  down  innocent  Negro  women  and  stripped  their  clothing 
from  them,  white  men  shot  helpless  Negroes,  and  white  men 
picked  up  Negro  children  and  threw  them  into  burning  buildings. 
But  we  must  confess  that  our  civilization  is  diseased  and  many 
of  our  cities,  "  though  covered  with  a  forest  of  church  towers  are 
as  corrupt  as  Nineveh  and  Tyre." 

The  horrible  burnings  and  frightful  tortures  which,  in  the  last 
few  years,  have  accompanied  the  lynching  of  Negroes,  can  partly 
be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  a  lower  class  of  white  people 
now  do  the  lynching  than  formerly.  Then  newspapers  publish 
in  detail,  accounts  of  the  lynchings.  This  power  of  suggestion 
has  great  influence  on  these  barbarous  mobs  of  poor,  ignorant 
whites.  They  think  the  more  barbarous  they  make  these 
lynchings  the  more  quickly  crimes  will  be  stopped,  but  often  it 
has  the  opposite  effect.  It  has  been  recorded  that  a  Negro  who 
had  witnessed  a  lynching  for  rape  actually  committed  an  assault 
on  his  way  home.  That  there  has  been  and  is  governmental 
inefficiency  in  dealing  with  mob  violence  is  quite  evident.  Our 
laws  as  formulated  and  administered  have  proven  inadequate  to 
deal  with  the  situation,  and  they  should  either  be  administered 
or  repealed.  But  if  we  had  a  few  more  men  like  the  Governor 
of  Kentucky,  who  offered  to  uphold  the  law  and  defend  the 
court  with  his  own  body  if  necessary,  when  a  mob  was  trying  to 
lynch  a  Negro,  lynching  would  soon  be  a  thing  of  the  past. 

Lynch-law  reached  its  climax  in  the  late  eighties  and  early 
nineties.  From  1885  to  1915,  3,733  people  were  lynched  in  the 
United  States,  2,735  of  these  being  Negroes.  In  1915,  54  negroes 
were  lynched;  1916,  50;  and  1917,  36.  Georgia  seems  to  be,  by 
far,  the  bloodiest,  most  lawless  State  in  the  Union.  She  lynched 
eighteen  in  1915,  and  fourteen  in  1916;  more  than  one-fourth 
of  the  lynching  of  these  two  years  occurred  within  her  borders. 
Lynchings  occurred  in  the  following  States  in  1917:  Alabama, 
4;  Arkansas,  4;  Arizona,  1;  Florida,  1;  Georgia,  6;  Kentucky, 


104      Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

2;  Louisiana,  5;  Mississippi,  1;  Montana,  1;  Oklahoma,  1; 
South  Carolina,  1;  Tennessee,  3;  Texas,  6;  Virginia,  1;  Wyoming, 
1.  The  number  of  lynchings  was  reduced  from  171  in  1886-1895 
to  70  in  1906-1915.  Lynching  in  the  United  States  seems  to  be 
rapidly  declining,  and  let  us  hope  it  shall  soon  be  a  thing  of  the 
past. 

From  the  preceding  reports  it  seems  that  the  Northern  States 
are  having  real  experience  with  lynchings  and  race  riots.  Race 
riots  are  becoming  very  common  in  practically  all  the  large 
Northern  cities.  And  there  is  no  little  ground  for  apprehension 
in  the  fact  that  it  is  more  common  to  hear  the  cries  of  "  Lynch 
him, "  "  Get  a  rope  and  string  him  up, "  in  the  streets  of  New  York 
City  than  it  is  in  any  city  in  the  South.  The  increased  migration 
of  Southern  Negroes  into  the  North  doubtless  accounts  for  much 
of  it.  With  this  migration  goes  many  of  the  mobile  Negro  ele 
ment  which  shifts  from  place  to  place  according  to  temporary 
attraction.  This  element  has  little  regard  for  the  best  interest 
of  either  race.  They  leave  a  criminal  record  wherever  they  go 
and  care  little  for  the  results.  Incarcerations  only  serve  to 
intensify  their  animosity.  Their  criminal  record  in  the  North 
has  been  responsible  in  a  marked  degree  for  the  changing  senti 
ment  of  the  Northern  white  people  toward  the  Negro  race. 

According  to  statistics  some  Northern  cities  show  a  notable  sur 
plus  of  Negro  women  over  men.  While  it  is  a  question  whether 
the  Negroes  can  ever  become  a  large  factor  in  the  population 
in  Northern  latitudes  as  they  are  not  holding  their  own  in  the 
country  or  small  towns,  and  in  large  cities  only  by  constant 
migration  and  not  by  birth  rate,  yet  the  predominance  of  the 
female  element  has  a  very  bad  effect  on  their  home  life  and 
society  in  the  urban 'Negro  population.  In  1910  there  were  only 
889  males  to  every  1000  females  among  the  Negro  population  in 
the  United  States,  while  there  were  1060  males  to  every  1,000 
females  among  the  white  populaton.  Where  either  sex  pre 
ponderates,  in  large  numbers,  there  is  much  immorality  because 
the  other  sex  is  cheap.  In  the  Northern  cities  the  Negro  women 
preponderate  in  large  numbers,  so  it  is  a  very  common  thing  to 
see  a  Negro  woman  "waltzing"  down  the  street  with  her  para 
mour.  Many  Negro  men  are  supported  in  idleness  by  Negro 
women  in  order  to  have  them  as  paramours.  This  brings 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States       105 

defective  family  life,  and  the  children  deserve  much  credit  if 
they  do  not  become  criminals.  The  women  of  any  race  are  the 
conservators  of  its  moral  stamina,  which  in  turn  lies  back  of  all 
social  progress.  But  if  these  women  live  debauched  lives,  and 
support  their  paramours,  living  under  the  stress  and  strain  of 
the  economic  conflict  in  the  North,  where  over  half  of  them  are 
forced  to  earn  their  living  in  domestic  service  and  that  at  low 
wages,  what  may  we  expect  of  the  children? 

The  increasing  criminal  record  of  the  Negro  is  a  serious  ques 
tion.  A  few  years  ago  the  Northern  newspapers  did  not  say 
much  about  the  crimes  of  Negroes,  but  now  almost  all  the  North 
ern  newspapers  publish  the  crimes  of  Negroes  in  glowing  headlines. 
And  they  are  not  very  particular  about  the  phraseology  they 
use  in  their  discussions  of  the  crimes  of  Negroes.  This  seems 
to  have  given  many  of  the  Northern  whites  a  disgust  for  the  de 
tested  race.  They  now  blame  the  whole  race  for  the  crimes  of 
few,  and  have  withdrawn  their  friendship  for  the  Negro  and 
want  nothing  to  do  with  him.  When  he  comes  to  court  he  must 
suffer  the  consequences.  No  one  will  take  his  case  without 
money.  He  has  no  white  friend  to  intercede  for  him,  and  the 
courts  are  generally  not  willing  to  liberalize  in  his  case. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  South,  there  has  always  been  a  kind 
of  affection  between  the  two  races  because  of  the  close  associa 
tions  in  slavery  and  since,  which  influence  continues  to  hold  to 
day.  The  Negroes  show  great  affection  for  the  whites  and 
practically  every  Negro  in  the  South  has  some  white  friend  to 
whom  he  can  go  for  aid.  When  the  Negro  commits  a  crime  and 
gets  in  jail  in  the  South,  he  sends  for  his  " white  folks,"  if  he  is 
fortunate  enough  to  have  any,  and  he  generally  is.  And  they 
come,  men  or  women,  as  the  case  may  be,  practically  without 
fail.  His  " white  folks"  have  great  power  in  court  and  often 
they  are  responsible  for  the  Negro  getting  less  than  justice. 
The  court,  often  through  the  influence  of  his  white  friends,  lets 
him  go  with  a  reprimand  or  a  small  fine  when  the  law  would  call 
for  something  more  severe. 

If  the  Negro  has  no  " white  folks"  he  may  have  much  trouble 
before  the  court  gets  through  with  him,  but  even  then  some  one 
may  take  pity  on  him  and  get  a  lawyer  to  defend  him,  or  the 
judge  may  appoint  some  lawyer  to  defend  him.  Mr.  Champ 


106        Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

Clark  says:  "Some  of  the  hardest  fights  that  I  have  ever  made 
in  court  have  been  by  appointment  of  a  judge,  generally  to 
defend  some  poor,  friendless  Negroes,  and  I  made  just  as  hard  a 
fight  as  I  would  have  made  for  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
or  the  Governor  of  Missouri,  or  anybody  else,  and  I  would  do  it 
again." 


CHAPTER  VII 


RELIGIOUS  RELATIONSHIP 

In  another  chapter  I  have  said  something  about  the  Negro 
minister  as  a  professional  man.  The  Negro  preacher  before  and 
after  the  Civil  War  was  poorly  equipped  for  the  high  and  sacred 
office  of  the  ministry.  Even  to-day  many  of  them  remain  with 
the  poorly  equipped  class,  but  many  of  them  are  very  well  equip 
ped  to  perform  their  duties.  The  intellectual  class  of  Negro 
preachers,  who  are  well  trained  to  lead  their  people,  have  an 
exceedingly  hard  task  before  them.  Usually  their  congregations 
are  uneducated  and  take  very  little  interest  in  the  sermons  of  the 
educated  minister.  Unless  they  can  preach  a  lot  of  magical, 
mysterious,  hell-fire  and  damnation  kind  of  religion  and  preach 
in  the  " sing-song"  method  they  are  liable  to  have  to  change 
pulpits  quite  often. 

The  Negro  church  is  the  only  institution  which  the  Negro  may 
justly  call  his  own.  It  is  a  fact  that  he  copied  his  religion  largely 
after  his  white  masters,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  some  Negro  churches 
still  remain  under  the  white  man 's  control,  but  most  of  them  are 
not  controlled  by  white  men  and  white  men  have  little  or  nothing 
to  do  with  them.  In  all  his  other  institutions  he  has  to  come  in 
contact  with  the  white  man,  but  in  the  church  he  can  preach 
whatever  he  wishes  so  long  as  it  is  acceptable  with  his  congrega 
tion.  And  his  congregation  can  roll  on  the  floor  all  night,  get 
just  as  much  religion  as  they  want,  shout  until  their  clothes  fall 
off  if  they  wish,  and  the  white  people  have  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

The  Negro  preacher  often  does  not  care  what  his  parishioners 
believe,  sometimes  what  they  do,  but  there  is  one  thing  which  he 
is  vitally  interested  in  and  that  is  the  financial  side  of  his  church 
He  often  has  the  collection  plate  passed  several  times  in  the 
course  of  one  service.  I  have  often  seen  the  collection  plate 
passed  three  times  in  one  service,  and  if  there  are  many  white 
people  in  the  congregation  it  is  sometimes  passed  more  often. 
The  life  of  the  Negro  preacher  is  often  an  unfit  example  for  his 

107 


108       Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

congregation.  Many  Negro  preachers  are  dishonest,  immoral 
and  sexually  impure.  It  is  unfortunately  true  that  there  is  a 
wide  discrepancy  between  creed  and  conduct,  not  only  among 
the  church  members,  but  the  ministers  as  well.  Negroes  are 
widely  known  for  their  church  going  proclivities  and  their 
emotional  and  spiritual  susceptibilities,  and  often  they  permit 
their  emotions  to  take  the  place  of  their  spiritual  nature,  or 
rather  carry  it  to  extremes.  They  also  quite  often  permit  their 
sexual  passions  to  overcome  their  emotions.  This  takes  place  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  must  be  confessed  that  ungodliness  is 
triumphant  when  their  "  temples  of  worship  are  turned  into 
debauching  rendezvous,  with  prayer-meetings  transformed  into 
seances  of  sensous  contortions  and  physical  frenzies. "  Negroes 
practice  such  an  infinitesimal  amount  of  the  religion  they  shout 
that  many  Southern  whites  have  little  confidence  in  their  religion. 
Rev.  Dr.  Tucker,  at  the  American  Church  Congress,  said:  "I 
have  known  Negroes  to  steal  from  each  other  in  the  midst  of 
prayer-meeting,  and  rob  the  hen  roost  on  the  way  home."26 
Melick  says:  "I  have  heard  Negroes  trying  to  persuade  others 
to  accept  religion,  and  a  few  minutes  afterwards  swear  in  the 
most  vile  terms  imaginable."26  Dr.  Shufeldt  says:  "At  South 
ern  Negro  campmeetings  unbridled  lust  is  a  common  practice.  "27 
The  time-honored  dispute  as  to  the  proper  mode  of  baptism  is 
about  the  only  Scriptural  text  which  the  Negro  preacher  ap 
proaches  with  controversial  heat.  Ethical  sermons  have  no 
place  in  his  preaching,  but  he  places  much  emphasis  on  the 
doctrine  of  hell  and  the  amount  of  the  collection  plate.  He  likes 
to  be  seen  masquerading  in  a  prince  albert,  a  white  vest,  and 
other  garments  of  seeming  righteousness.  Praise  evoked  by 
pulpit  effusions  brings  him  intense  satisfaction.  The  title  of  the 
ministry  has  a  peculiar  fascination  for  him  and  to  be  called 
"Reverend"  is  a  great  joy.  He  will  do  almost  anything  to  get  a 
"D.D.,"  and  the  zenith  of  his  life  is  realized  when  he  becomes 
"President "  of  some  Baptist  body,  or  gains  the  title  of  " Bishop. " 
Not  all  Negro  ministers,  however,  are  in  this  class.  I  have  met 
some  who  were  cultured  gentlemen  of  the  highest  type.  And  I 
feel  that  the  Negro  should  not  be  criticized  very  severely  for  his 

27  Some  Phases  of  the  Negro  Question,  p.  46. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States      109 

failures  in  religion  while  white  people  make  it  almost  impossible 
for  it  to  be  otherwise. 

1.  As  I  have  indicated,  the  Negro  was  known  to  have 
churches  of  his  own  before  the  Civil  War.  After  the  Civil  War 
Negroes  immediately  established  churches  of  their  own  in  the 
South,  but  in  the  North  for  many  years  they  continued  to  wor 
ship  side  by  side  with  the  whites.  They  had  some  Negro 
churches  in  the  North,  but  some  of  them  worshiped  with  the 
whites.  But  for  some  years  a  change  has  been  taking  place  in 
the  Northern  churches.  One  would  think  the  Christian  Church 
is  the  last  place  to  look  for  race  prejudice,  yet  it  is  there  and 
plenty  of  it. 

We  are  assured  by  several  writers  that  it  is  only  a  few  Catholic 
churches  that  Negroes  and  whites  are  found  in  anything  like 
equal  numbers  worshiping  side  by  side.  They  worship  together 
in  some  Catholic  churches  in  Boston  and  so  do  they  in  New 
Orleans  and  Louisville.  I  attended  a  Negro  Catholic  church  in 
Louisville  and  found  two-thirds  of  the  congregation  white  people. 
I  asked  if  the  whites  were  members  of  that  church  and  was  told 
that  they  were  not  members  there  but  came  to  help  out  the 
Negroes.  In  Chicago,  and  in  many  other  Northern  cities,  separ 
ate  Catholic  and  Episcopal  churches  have  been  established  for 
the  Negroes.  We  may  say  that. in  all  the  cities  of  the  North, 
and  in  the  rural  districts  as  well,  it  is  seldom  that  one  finds  white 
people  and  Negroes  forming  the  same  congregation. 

I  spent  six  years  in  the  North  and  only  once  did  I  ever  hear 
a  minister  mention  that  he  or  his  congregation  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  Negro,  or  that  there  was  such  a  thing  as  a  Negro  in  the 
world.  This  one  preached  a  sermon  on  the  Negro  as  a  request 
of  a  committee  which  had  been  established,  chiefly  by  Negroes, 
to  bring  about  a  better  understanding  between  the  white  and 
colored  people  two  years  after  a  riot.  His  sermon  was  delivered 
in  a  perfunctory  manner  with  little  knowledge  of  or  interest  in 
the  subject  on  his  own  part  or  the  part  of  his  congregation. 
Commenting  on  the  sermon  one  of  the  faithful  members  of  the 
congregation  said  to  me:  "I  went  to  hear  the  Gospel  preached, 
not  to  hear  about  Negroes."  However  Baker28  tells  us  that 

28  Following  the  Color  Line,  p.  122. 


110      Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

Northern  white  city  pastors  used  to  sometimes  have  a  spasm  of 
conscience  over  the  Negro  situation  and  venture  to  offer  their 
services.  He  relates  two  cases  reported  to  him  by  Miss  Bar 
tholomew  who  conducts  a  social  settlement  in  one  of  the  worst 
slums  in  Philadelphia.  While  the  slum  is  near  several  of  the 
most  aristocratic  white  churches,  and  Miss  Bartholomew  has 
been  there  for  several  years,  only  twice  have  white  pastors  ven 
tured  down  from  their  churches  to  inquire  into  the  conditions 
and  offer  their  services.  The  first  one  was  willing  to  do  nothing 
but  read  the  burial  services  in  case  of  death  in  the  Negro  families. 
The  other  wanted  to  establish  a  Sunday  School  for  the  Negroes 
but  he  could  not  have  it  in  his  church  because  they  would  have 
to  air  all  the  cushions  after  the  Negroes  had  been  in  the  church. 

The  Baptist  denomination  some  years  ago  organized  the 
General  Baptist  Convention  of  America.  The  first  convention 
was  held  in  St.  Louis  in  1905.  The  next  meeting  was  to  have 
been  in  Louisville  in  May,  1906,  but  the  meeting  was  postponed  but 
the  executive  committee  assigning  as  the  reason  that  they 
found  difficulty  in  securing  a  church  in  which  to  meet.  The 
whites  were  averse  to  having  Negro  members  of  the  denomination 
assemble  in  the  pews  with  them.  Later  it  was  arranged  that  the 
whites  and  Negroes  should  meet  in  the  same  edifice,  but  they 
were  going  to  confine  the  Negroes  to  the  use  of  the  balcony. 
This  the  Negroes  resented. 

I  was  told  by  a  minister  who  attended  the  Baptist  Convention 
which  met  in  Denver,  Colorado,  that  neither  the  white  families 
nor  the  hotels  would  entertain  the  Negro  delegates. 

A  Negro  concert  went  to  Reading,  Pennsylvania.  The 
quartet  sang  in  all  the  important  whites  churches  of  the  city, 
but  when  it  came  to  getting  a  place  for  them  to  spend  the  night, 
none  of  the  white  families  and  none  of  the  hotels  would  entertain 
them.  Finally  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  had  to  fix  up  a  back  room  for 
them  where  none  of  the  whites  would  see  them. 

Colorado  is  the  only  State  in  the  Union  that  has  undertaken  to 
guarantee  the  Negro  free  and  equal  accommodations  and 
privileges  in  churches  by  law.  But  in  Colorado  the  Negroes 
have  their  own  churches  and  the  white  people  will  not  have  them 
as  members  of  their  churches. 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States       111 

On  several  occasions  I  have  visited  the  Baptist  Ministers' 
Conference  in  Philadelphia.  Each  time  I  saw  some  Negroes 
there.  I  asked  some  of  the  white  ministers  if  they  ever  asked 
the  Negroes  to  speak  before  the  conference.  They  told  me  that 
they  used  to  have  them  speak,  but  for  a  long  time  now  they  had 
not  asked  a  Negro  to  speak  because  there  seemed  to  be  a  feeling 
against  their  speaking. 

After  President  Roosevelt  held  the  famous  luncheon  with  Dr. 
Washington,  the  ministers  of  the  Methodist  churches  of  Phila 
delphia  and  vicinity,  at  one  of  their  meetings,  commended  the 
"  courageous  and  broadminded  act  of  our  President,  and  we  hail 
it  with  joy  as  an  auspicious  omen  that  the  weight  of  the  great 
office  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  to  be  cast  in  the 
interest  of  equal  rights  of  all  our  citizens  before  God  under  the 
law  of  the  land."  But  in  1916  we  find  these  same  Methodist 
ministers  with  others  of  their  denomination,  in  the  conferences 
of  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  having  a  great  discussion  over 
the  Negro  question.  This  time  they  had  crossed  the  fence  for 
they  wanted  some  ruling  in  the  conferences  changed  because  they 
were  afraid  a  Negro  might  become  bishop  over  some  white 
churches. 

While  there  have  been  for  some  time  numerous  Negro  churches 
in  Boston,  many  colored  people  were  members  of  the  white 
Episcopal  churches.  A  few  years  ago  this  came  to  be  a  serious 
problem.  Negroes  formed  about  one-fourth  of  the  congregation 
of  the  Church  of  the  Ascension  and  the  vicar  refused  any  further- 
Negro  attendance  at  the  Sunday  School.  Other  Episcopal 
churches  had  the  same  problem.  They  believed  it  according  to 
teachings  of  Christ  to  keep  the  Negroes,  but  the  white  people 
were  drifting  away  from  them,  strangers  avoided  them,  and  the 
Negroes  could  not  contribute  very  much  toward  keeping  up  the 
expensive  churches.  They  then  decided  to  establish  mission 
churches  in  the  Negro  districts,  expecting  these  to  grow  into 
colored  churches,  and  for  the  colored  members  of  the  white 
churches  to  move  to  them.  Things  drifted  along  this  way  for 
some  time,  but  about  1906  a  crisis  was  reached  in  St.  Peter's 
church  in  Cambridge.  Some  of  the  white  parents  began  to 
object  to  their  children  being  in  Sunday  School  classes  with 
Negroes  and  having  Negro  teachers.  About  this  time  a  new 


112       Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

rector  came  in  and  he  separated  the  white  and  colored  children 
in  most  of  the  classes,  giving  each,  teachers  of  their  own  race. 
The  Negroes  were  offended  and  raised  a  cry  of  "  Jim-crowism. " 
A  little  later  a  Negro  boy  was  sent  away  from  the  church  and 
the  Negroes  were  more  indignant  and  remained  away  from 
church.  A  meeting  was  called  and  the  assistant  rector  remarked 
that  the  white  members  would  be  glad  if  the  Negroes  would 
withdraw,  this  they  did  do  a  few  months  later. 

We  may  say  the  white  churches  have  been  pursuing  a  "  penny- 
wise  and  a  pound-foolish  economy"  toward  the  Negro.  South 
ern  whites  would  seem  to  show  a  greater  interest  in  the  religious 
and  intellectual  development  of  the  Negroes  in  Africa  than  in 
those  at  home.  The  Northern  whites  seem  far  more  interested  in 
the  Negroes  in  the  South  and  in  Africa  than  those  around  their 
own  doors.  In  1911,  the  white  Presbyterians  gave  about  three 
cents  per  member  to  evangelize  and  educate  the  Negro  in  the 
South.  The  Methodist  gave  less  than  five  cents,  and  the 
Baptist  gave  $15,000  annually.  While  there  are  some  twenty- 
six  different  boards  carrying  on  missionary  work  among  the 
Negroes,  I  think  they  are  doing  far  less  than  they  should  be 
doing.  Many  Negro  churches  need  to  be  guided  and  assisted 
by  the  brotherly  hand  of  the  white  man,  and  many  Negro 
preachers,  so-called,  need  to  be  instructed  in  the  best  methods 
of  church  work.  The  Negro  preachers  and  churches  are  in 
vital  need  of  sane  evangelism.  They  need  to  be  taught  the 
relationship  between  creed  and  practice.  They  need  to  be 
impressed  with  the  necessity  of  living  clean  lives,  both  spiritually 
and  physically,  inside  and  out.  Mens  sana  in  corpore  sano  is 
fundamental  in  the  development  of  the  Negro.  I  feel  that  there 
is  entirely  too  wide  a  separation  between  the  white  and  colored 
ministers  as  well  as  between  the  laymen.  I  believe  if  the  leaders 
of  these  two  groups  would  discuss  their  mutual  problems  together 
both  would  be  benefited  and  the  religion  of  the  Negro  would  be 
raised  to  a  higher  plane. 

There  are  some  hopeful  signs,  however,  of  greater  Christian 
fellowship  between  the  two  races  in  the  South.  The  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  in  1914,  pledged  $50,000  toward  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  Negro  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  at  Memphis, 
Tennessee.  This  is  little  more  than  one  cent  per  member  for 


Race  Relationship   in  Border  and  Northern  States      113 

every  Baptist  in  the  South.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South  has  spent  something  like  $23,000  for  Negro  education, 
church  institute  work  and  social  settlement  work  the  past  year' 
The  Presbyterians  in  the  South  are  doing  the  best  of  any  of  the 
denominations.  They  have  a  paid  secretary  on  Negro  evangel 
ism  who  gives  his  entire  time  to  pushing  this  work.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  question  of  a  Negro  bishop  continues  to  agitate 
the  Episcopal  Church,  and  the  disposition  of  their  Negro  member 
is  a  paramount  question  in  the  Methodist  Church  in  the  North. 

Then,  white  and  colored  ministers  are  beginning  more  and 
more  to  speak  out  their  sentiments  regarding  race-  relationship 
in  public  meetings.     This  year  the  Negro  Baptists  held  their 
jubilee,  celebrating  the  50  years  of  colored  Baptist  church  work 
in  North  Carolina.     The  Negroes  in  the  South  have  a  custom  of 
inviting  white  men  to  speak  to  them  in  such  celebrations.     In 
keeping  with  this  custom  Governor  Bickett,  Rev.  Dr.  John  E. 
White  of  South  Carolina  and  Rev.  Dr.  W.  N.  Johnson  were  the 
prominent  white  men  asked  to  take  part  in  this  celebration. 
Dr.  White  made  the  principal  address  and  made  a  race  speech. 
In  his  address  he  bade  the  Negro  count  it  not  all  tribulation  that 
he  had  been  reared  near  his  slave  master  and  in  contact  with  a 
great  religious  body.     Governor  Bickett  and  Dr.  Johnson  spoke 
briefly    following    Dr.    White's    address.     The    governor    was 
introduced  as  a  big  man  willing  to  be  just  to  the  colored  man. 
Dr.  Johnson  reminded  the  colored  people  that  social  separateness 
is  the  solvent  for  the  race  trouble — "I  don't  want  to  eat  with 
you  and  I  certainly  don't  want  to  sleep  with  you,"  he  said, 
"but  I  do  want  to  work  with  you  and  help  you."     The  colored 
people  applauded  it  as  if  there  had  never  been  any  trouble  going 
on  in  Washington.     At  the  Southern  Baptists  Convention  which 
met  this  year  in  Atlanta,   Georgia,  the  white  people  invited 
several  colored  Baptist  to  the  platform.     One  of  the  Negroes  was 
the  Rev.  Dr.  P.  J.  Bryan,  pastor  of  one  of  the  largest  colored 
churches  in  the  South.     Dr.  Bryan  said  the  Negroes  are  under 
obligation  to  the  white  people,  while  the  white  people  owe  much 
to  the  Negro.     He  declared  that  the  Negroes  regard  the  Southern 
white  men  as  their  best  friends.     "We  are  not  disturbed  by 
occasional    outbreaks,"    he    said,    evidently    having    in    mind 
the  recent  lynching  in   Vicksburg.     "We  have  not  lost  our 


114       Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  Stales 

heads  nor  shall  we  do  so.  We  do  not  hate  any  men  of  any 
color.  As  manly  men  we  will  not,  and  as  Christian  men  we  can 
not.  I  can  speak  for  my  colored  brethren  when  I  say  we  do  not 
aspire  to  social  equality  or  race  amalgamation.  We  will  stay 
out  of  your  parlors  if  you  will  stay  out  of  our  kitchens.  All  we 
ask  is  that  you  protect  us  as  we  protected  your  wives  and  little 
ones  when  they  and  we  were  left  alone. " 

Preachers  and  other  public  men  are  now  no  longer  afraid  to 
denounce  lynchings  and  other  crimes  against  Negroes.  At 
Henderson,  Kentucky,  Rev.  Dr.  Bulgin  and  2,000  white  men  and 
women  denounced  the  lynching  of  a  Negro  near  Memphis, 
Tennessee,  May,  1917.  The  lynching  had  just  occurred  and  this 
body  denounced  it  and  adopted  resolutions  to  that  effect.  A 
few  days  later  at  Princetown,  Kentucky,  Evangelist  Burke 
Culpepper  of  Memphis,  Tennessee,  in  a  sermon  before  a  large 
audience,  denounced  mob  law  and  strongly  condemned  the  same 
lynchers  at  Memphis. 

The  mission  schools  for  Negroes  have  probably  done  more  for 
the  uplift  of  the  Negroes  in  the  South  than  any  other  phase  of  the 
Christian  work.  Many  of  these  mission  schools  have  grown  into 
colleges.  The  white  religious  denominations  spend  annually  an 
average  of  about  $1,150,000  for  Negro  education  in  the  South. 
Of  this  amount,  probably  $300,000  or  more  is  contributed  by  the 
Negroes  themselves.  From  1900  to  1910  it  is  probable  that  the 
white  religious  denominations  spent  for  Negro  development  in 
the  South,  between  ten  and  eleven  millions  of  dollars.  Religious 
education  has  worked  wonders  among  the  Negroes  in  the  South. 
It  develops  strong  manly  and  womanly  characteristics  and  re 
tards  the  progress  of  crime.  The  late  Bishop  Charles  B.  Gallo 
way  of  the  Methodist  Church,  said:  "I  believe  it  is  perfectly 
safe  to  say  that  not  a  single  case  of  criminal  assault  has  ever  been 
charged  against  a  student  of  a  mission  school  for  Negroes  founded 
and  sustained  by  a  great  Christian  denomination.  This  is  no 
question  for  small  politicians,  but  for  broad  patriotic  statesmen. 
It  is  not  for  non-resident  theorists,  but  for  the  clear-visioned 
humanitarians.  All  our  dealings  with  these  people  should  be  in 
the  spirit  of  the  Man  of  Galilee. " 

The  Baptist  and  Methodist  denominations  are  about  the  only 
ones  that  have  succeeded  in  reaping  an  abundant  harvest  of 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  Stales      115 

Negro  Christians.     The  Negro  seems  to  prefer  these  denomina 
tions,  because  they  are  freer  and  give  a  broad  field  to  religious  ex 
pression.    It  is  said  that  the  Negro  is  the  only  natural  Baptist  and 
it  seems  to  be  true  when  one  looks  at  the  large  number  of  mem 
bers  which  this  denomination  has  enrolled.     Seventeen  of  the 
twenty-five  Negro  churches  in  Greater  Boston  and  forty-two  of  the 
eighty-one  in  Louisville  are  Baptist  churches.     The  Negroes  sav 
they  have  more  liberty  in  that  church.     The  different  Methodist 
churches  have  also  been  able  to  enroll  large  numbers  of  Negroes 
But  these  denominations  as  well  as  others  have  not  put  forth  the 
effort  that  they  should.     They  have  let  race  prejudice  enter  in 
and  mar  their  work  and  hinder  it  in  many  respects.     It  is  my 
deliberate  judgment  that  the  Christian  Church  of  the  United 
States,  in  her  dealing  with  the  Negro,  stands  before  the  world 
convicted  of  a  degree  of  prejudice,  cowardice,  and  inhumanity 
for  which  no  consideration  of  her  great  achievement  in  other 
fields  can  ever  atone. 

The  News  and  Observer  of  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  February 
20,  1906,  quoted  the  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  Guide  as 
calling  on  the  people  to  provide  a  cemetery  where  Negroes  may 
be  buried,  saying  that  "  unless  something  is  done,  the  bodies  of 
the  colored  poor  will  be  denied  the  right  of  decent  burial  or  their 
disposition,  of  necessity,  will  be  by  means  of  the  dissecting  room 
of  anatomical  boards." 

In  March,  1915,  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  dismissed, 
on  the  ground  that  the  court  was  without  jurisdiction,  a  suit 
brought  up  to  it  by  a  Negro  of  Chicago,  to  compel  the  Forest 
Home  Cemetery  of  that  city  to  permit  him  to  bury  his  wife  in 
that  cemetery  in  a  lot  which  he  owned  and  in  which  his  two 
children  had  been  previously  buried.  Between  the  time  of  the 
burial  of  his  two  children  and  the  death  of  his  wife  the  controllers 
of  the  cemetery  had  passed  rules  excluding  Negroes  from  burial 
in  it. 

2.  The  Young  Men 's  Christian  Association  has  had  to  meet 
the  color  problem,  and  we  find  it  drawing  the  color  line.  In  the 
Northern  cities  this  color  line  is  being  drawn  as  tight  as  in  any 
city  in  the  South. 

A  few  years  ago  the  white  Y.  M.  C.  A.  in  New  Haven,  Connect 
icut,  decided  not  to  allow  Negroes  to  attend  it,  so  a  separate 


116       Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

building  had  to  be  provided  for  the  Negroes.  Some  years  ago 
the  colored  young  men  of  the  suburb  of  Cincinnati  organized  a 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  The  white  Y.  M.  C.  A.  objected  to  this  and  had 
the  colored  organization  change  its  name  to  the  Y.  B.  (oys) 
C.  A.  Not  many  years  ago  a  movement  was  made  to  organize  a 
separate  Y.  M.  C.  A.  for  the  Negroes  in  Boston. 

I  know  of  no  Northern  city  where  the  Negroes  can  go  into  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  or  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  share  the  benefits  with  the  white 
people.  But  separate  institutions  have  been  established  or  are 
being  established  in  every  Northern  city  with  a  considerable 
Negro  population.  This  would  indicate  that  race  prejudice  is 
increasing  in  the  North,  and  that  there  is  an  increased  desire  for 
separation,  and  this  among  the  best  people — the  Christian  people. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


GENERAL   SUMMARY  AND   CONCLUSIONS 

In  a  certain  important  sense  all  racial  problems  are  distinctly 
problems  of  racial  distribution.  And  the  adjustment  of  the 
white  and  Negro  element  in  the  population  varies  from  place  to 
place.  The  chief  factor  determining  the  variance  of  adjustment 
is  not  latitude  nor  longitude,  but  the  proportion  of  Negroes  in 
the  population.  The  Negro  population  has  been  increasing  in 
all  the  Northern  cities  very  rapidly  for  the  last  few  years.  It 
has  probably  increased  more  rapidly  for  the  last  five  years  than 
ever  before  in  our  history.  Before  the  World  War  it  was  esti 
mated  that  something  like  one  million  Negroes  lived  in  the  North; 
it  is  now  estimated  that  something  like  two  million  live  there. 
If  the  estimates  are  true,  about  one  million  Negroes  have 
migrated  North  since  the  World  War  broke  out.  The  scarcity 
of  labor  in  the  North  due  to  the  War,  and  the  destructive  floods 
and  ravages  of  the  boll  weevil  in  the  South,  are  given  as  the 
principle  causes  of  the  wholesale  exodus. 

When  Negroes  begin  to  increase  in  a  Northern  town  or  city 
race  prejudice  increases  on  a  proportionate  scale,  and  this  in 
crease  in  the  Northern  cities  is  calling  forth  far  sharper  expres 
sions  of  race  prejudice  than  was  expected  a  few  years  ago.  This 
will  continue  until  social  adjustment  takes  place.  It  may  call 
forth  "  Jim  Crow"  cars,  or  segregation  by  law;  the  driving  out  of 
the  Negroes  in  counties  and  towns,  as  has  already  taken  place; 
or  more  complete  separation  in  schools,  as  in  Chicago;  or  some 
other  method  of  expressing  race  prejudice. 

There  is  scarcely  a  State  in  the  United  States  where  legislative 
or  judicial  records  do  not  reveal  the  actual  existence  of  some 
racial  distinctions.  Of  the  twenty-nine  States  that  prohibit 
Negro-white  intermarriage,  half  of  them  are  outside  the  South. 
Negroes  on  account  of  their  race  have  been  excluded,  usually 
contrary  to  the  State  laws,  from  hotels  in  Massachusetts,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and 

117 


118      Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

Iowa;  from  barbershops  in  Connecticut  and  Nebraska;  from 
boot-black  stands  in  New  York;  from  pool-rooms  in  Mass 
achusetts;  from  saloons  in  Ohio  and  Minnesota;  from  soda 
fountains  in  Illinois;  from  theatres  in  New  York  and  Illinois; 
from  skating-rinks  in  New  York  and  Iowa;  and  the  bodies  of 
Negroes  have  been  refused  burial  with  those  of  white  people  in 
Pennsylvania  and  Illinois.  I  do  not  mean  here  that  Negroes  are 
always  excluded  from  such  places,  but  that  instances  of  such 
exclusions  are  found  in  the  records. 

Civil  Rights  for  whites  and  Negroes  in  the  North  are  the  same 
technically,  but  actual  discriminations  are  just  as  numerous  as 
in  any  Southern  States.  In  the  North  the  Negro  is  urged  to  rise 
but  he  is  bound  in  chains.  He  is  kept  out  of  the  white  man 's 
hotel,  restaurant,  theatre,  soda  fountains,  civilization.  He  is 
ordered  to  segregate  himself,  urged  to  build  up  a  little  African 
civilization  within  our  big  civilization.  Yet  he  is  barred  from 
the  labor  unions  and  is  compelled  to  make  his  living  by  odd  jobs, 
domestic  service,  working  as  janitor,  waiter,  servitor.  He  is 
given  no  opportunity  in  the  economic  conflict  to  gain  the  money 
with  which  to  build  up  that  civilization.  In  every  city  he  is 
forced  to  live  in  the  most  undesirable  section. 

The  Negro  is  admitted  occasionally  to  some  places  of  public 
accommodation,  but  he  understands  that  while  there  he  must 
stand  waiting  with  hat  in  hand,  or  enter  some  place  fixed  apart. 
Seldom  either  publicly  or  privately  can  he  sit  at  the  table  with 
white  people.  If  he  attends  the  white  man's  church  he  is 
assigned  a  pew  where  he  has  plenty  of  elbow  room,  usually  so 
much  room  that  he  feels  uncomfortable.  He  understands  that 
he  has  no  cup  at  the  communion  table,  no  vote  in  the  councils 
of  the  laity  and  no  place  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Sometimes  he  is 
permitted  to  be  sexton,  bell-ringer,  or  organ-blower.  "In  the 
theatre  and  the  circus,  the  camp-meeting  and  the  court-room, 
the  hospital  and  the  prison,  the  cemetery  and  the  potter's  field, 
his  place  is  his  alone,  and  is  readily  located.  Whether  he  goes 
or  stays,  works  or  worships,  plays  or  suffers,  lives  or  dies,  the 
lines  are  drawn  sharply  around  and  about  him,  and  there  is  no 
transgressing  them — from  his  side. "  He  has  nothing  resembling 
equality  with  the  white  man  in  social  life  or  in  industrial  life. 

Whites  and  Negroes  never  have  and  do  not  to-day  associate 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States       119 

together  as  one  people  in  public  or  in  private.     They  never  form 
a  society  anywhere,  but  remain  a  mere  juxtaposition  of  separate 
units.     Social  equality  in  the  North  as  well  as  in  the  South  is  a 
myth.     It  was  not  in  the  South  that  Du  Bois  was  made  to  feel 
that  he  "was  different  from  others,"  but  in  a  school  way  up  in 
the  New  England  hills,  when  a  white  girl  refused  his  card.     It 
was  not  in  the  South  that  the  author  of  The  Autobiography  of 
an  Ex-Colored  Men  was  told  by  his  teacher  to  sit  down  with  the 
Negroes,  and  thus  crushed  his  pride  for  life,  but  in  a  school  in  the 
New  England  States.     It  was  not  in  the  South,  but  in  Exeter, 
New  Hampshire,  that  Booker  T.  Washington,  Jr.,  left  Philips 
Exeter  suddenly  because  he  felt  that  he  was  discriminated  against 
on  account  of  his  color.     No,  the  color  line  is  everywhere.     It  is  in 
the  churches.     It  is  in  society.     It  is  in  politics.     It  is  in  the 
economic  conflict,  and  no  race  knows  it  better  than  the  Negroes. 
There  used  to  be  a  sentiment  among  Northern  whites  to  wipe 
it  out,  but  that  day  is  past.     The  two  races  have  never  been 
able  to  live  together  on  terms  of  absolute  equality  and  whoever 
believes  this  will  soon  be  reversed  is  a  dreamer.     "The  Great 
Teacher  never  preached  the  flat  equality  of  men,  social  or  other 
wise.     He  gave  mankind  a  working  principle  by  means  of  which, 
being  so  different,  some  white,  some  black,  some  yellow,  some  old, 
some  young,  some  men,  some  women,  some  accomplished,  some 
stupid— mankind  could,  after  all,  live  together  in  harmony  and 
develop  itself  to  the  utmost  possibility.     And  that  principle  was 
the  Golden  Rule.     It  is  the  least  sentimental,  the  most  profound 
practical  teaching  known  to  men."29 

Can  any  one  say  the  Negro  has  made  no  progress?  No,  we 
could  as  well  say  America  has  made  no  progress.  Hardly  a  genera 
tion  has  passed  since  the  common  sneer  rang  in  American's  ears: 
"Who  reads  an  American  book?"  Genius  has  no  age,  country, 
or  race;  it  belongs  to  mankind.  Who  cares  to-day  whether  Sir 
Isaac  Newton,  or  Watts  or  Fulton  was  white,  red,  brown,  or 
black? 

In  1863  there  were  about  five  million  persons  of  Negro  descent 
in  the  United  States.  Of  these,  four  million  and  more  were  just 
being  released  from  slavery.  Ninety  per  cent,  were  totally 

29  Following  the  Color  Line,  p.  307. 


120      Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

illiterate  and  only  one  adult  in  six  was  a  nominal  Christian. 
Their  total  wealth  in  this  country  was  about  $20,000,000. 
Ninety-five  per  cent,  of  them  in  the  South  were  penniless  and 
landless. 

In  1913,  fifty  years  later,  there  were  ten  and  a  quarter  million 
persons  of  Negro  descent  in  the  United  States.  In  1910  they 
owned  nearly  20,000,000  acres  of  land.  Their  total  property  in 
1910  was  estimated  at  $300,000,000.  To-day  it  is  said  to  be 
more  than  $800,000,000.  In  1910  they  had  5,192,535  bread 
winners,  69,471  in  personal  service.  Negro  ownership  of 
Southern  lands  increased  one  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent,  between 
1900  and  1910.  During  the  same  period  of  time  the  value  of 
their  farm  property  increased  177  per  cent.;  domestic  animals, 
107  per  cent.;  implements  and  machinery  98  per  cent.;  total  land 
and  buildings  increased  293  per  cent.;  and  their  poultry,  35  per 
cent.  Negroes  have  nearly  40,000  churches,  edifices  worth  at 
least  $75,000,000.  They  control  over  4,000,000  members  and 
raise  themselves  $7,500,000.  They  contribute  over  $200,000 
each  year  for  home  mission  work,  and  over  $100,000  to  foreign 
mission  work.  They  have  500  higher  institutions  of  learning. 
Twenty  millions  are  invested  in  these  schools,  and  over  $13,000,- 
000  is  necessary  for  their  upkeep.  Between  1900  and  1910 
iliteracy  among  Negroes  ten  years  old  and  older  was  reduced 
from  57.1  per  cent,  to  39.4  per  cent.  To-day  70  per  cent,  are  said 
to  be  literate.  Between  1900  and  1910  the  death  rate  was 
decreased  from  29.4  per  cent,  to  25.5  per  cent.  They  raise  $5,- 
000,000  a  year  by  secret  and  beneficial  societies  and  hold  $6,000,- 
000  in  real  estate.  They  have  100  old  folks'  homes  and  orphan 
ages,  30  hospitals,  and  500  cemeteries,  practically  all  supported 
by  them.  They  have  22,000  small  retail  establishments,  several 
large  wholesale  establishments,  and  48  banks  capitalized  at 
about  $1,600,000,  which  do  an  annual  business  of  about  $20,000,- 
000. 

No  other  emancipated  people  has  ever  made  such  great  progress 
in  such  short  time.  The  Russian  serfs  were  emancipated  in  1861. 
Fifty  years  later  14,000,000  of  them  had  accumulated  about 
$500,000,000  worth  of  property,  or  about  $36  per  capita,  an 
average  of  $200  per  family.  And  about  30  per  cent,  were  able 
to  read  and  write.  Fifty  years  after  the  emancipation  of  the 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States      121 

Negroes  in  the  United  States,  it  was  found  that  they  had  accumu 
lated  over  $700,000,000  worth  of  property,  or  about  $70  per 
capita,  an  average  of  $350  per  family,  and  70  per  cent,  of  them 
could  read  and  write. 

Monsieur  Jean  Finot,  the  able  French  writer,  contends  that: 
"  Dans  un  delai  de  cinquante  ans,  ils  ont  realise  les  progres  qui  ont 
necessity  pour  maints  peuples  blancs  de  cinq  a  six  siecles.  De 
Jules  Cesar  et  Tacite  jusqu'a"  Charlemagne,  done  pendant  huit 
siecles,  I'Allemagne  a  realise  moins  de  progres  que  les  Ndgres 
ame"ricains  dequis  la  guerre  de  Secession"30. 

The  average  Negro  is  far  worse  off  in  the  North  than  in  the 
South.  In  the  North  he  is  so  completely  shut  out  from  the  more 
advantageous  industrial  opportunities.  He  cannot  join  a  trade 
union ;  he  suffers  more  in  competition ;  he  cannot  teach  except  in  a 
few  Negro  schools.  A  few  criminals  cause  the  whole  race  to  be 
looked  down  upon  and  despised.  The  white  man  will  not  work 
by  his  side,  he  is  forced  to  take  lower  wages,  white  people  will  not 
patronize  his  store,  he  is  more  liable  to  insults,  his  children  are 
discriminated  against  in  school  and  pelted  with  stones  on  the  way 
home,  and  when  a  public  meeting  is  called  he  does  not  know 
whether  to  go  or  not.  No  wonder  he  sings:  "Hard  trials — /^ 
Great  tribulations,  Hard  trials — I'm  gwine  for  to  live  with  the 
Lord!"  And:  "Swing  low,  sweet  chariot,  comin'  for  to  carry 
me  home!"  A  few  of  the  older  Northern  people  have  preserved 
something  of  the  war-time  sentiment  for  the  Negro.  Occasion 
ally  one  meets  a  low-class  politician,  and  some  charity  workers 
that  are  interested  in  the  Negro;  but  the  people  one  ordinarily 
meets  do  not  know  or  care  anything  about  the  Negro  and  do  not 
discuss  him.  They  have  changed  radically  from  their  war-time 
policies.  In  the  South,  on  the  other  hand,  every  one  has  a  vital 
and  vigorous  opinion  regarding  the  Negro — just  mention  the 
question  and  the  discussion  follows.  In  the  South  it  is  a  vital, 
live,  every-day  problem,  but  in  the  North  it  has  been  a  dead 
issue  until  only  recently  when  it  has  gained  momentum  due  to  re 
cent  migration.  The  North  used  to  love  the  Negro  as  a  race,  but 
despised  him  as  an  individual.  The  South  has  always  liked  the  ^J 
Negro  as  an  individual,  but  feared  him  as  a  race.  The  North  \ 

30  Le  Prejuge  des  Races,  pp.  498-499 . . 


122       Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

loved  the  Negro  as  a  race  because  that  race  was  at  least  500 
miles  away;  it  counted  him  a  brother  because  some  one  else  had 
to  do  the  brothering.  The  South  has  always  liked  the  individual 
Negro  and  will  do  almost  anything  for  him,  but  she  used  to  fear 
him  because  he  held  the  balance  of  power.  To-day  the  North 
is  having  to  do  part  of  the  brothering  and  she  is  resenting  it  in  no 
uncertain  terms.  To-day  the  South  has  little  to  fear  from  the 
Negro  either  politically  or  economically.  Some  days  ago  I  read 
an  article  from  a  political  leader  of  South  Carolina  advocating 
that  they  now  permit  the  Negro  to  vote  on  equal  terms  with  the 
white  man  and  do  away  with  any  law  or  force  that  prohibits  the 
Negro  from  voting  on  equal  terms  with  the  whites. 

In  1900  the  Negroes  formed  11.6  per  cent,  of  the  whole  popu 
lation  in  the  United  States,  but  in  1910  they  formed  only  10.7 
per  cent.,  decreasing  0.9  per  cent,  in  ten  years.  In  the  same 
period  of  time  the  foreign  born  whites  in  this  country  increased 
30.7  per  cent.  The  native  born  whites  increased  20.8  per  cent. 
So  it  is  obvious  that  the  proportion  of  Negroes  to  whites  would 
have  decreased  if  there  had  been  no  immigration  at  all.  The 
white  leaders  of  the  South  have  a  knowledge  of  these  facts 
brought  out  by  the  census  of  1910,  and  have  become  convinced 
that  they  no  longer  need  to  live  in  dread  of  the  rapid  increase  of 
the  Negro  race  for  the  white  race  is  increasing  more  rapidly. 

The  Southern  white  people  realize  that  the  old  relationship,  so 
often  typified  in  the  affection  of  the  black  mammy,  is  one  that 
must  pass.  They  also  realize  it  is  impossible  to  have  no  relation 
ship,  no  responsibility  and  no  cooperation.  They  realize  that  the 
two  races  must  stand  or  fall  together.  There  can  be  no  progress 
apart,  but  together.  They  realize  that  neither  crime,  nor  filth, 
nor  disease  draws  any  color  line,  and  the  sin  of  the  immoral  will 
injure  the  health  of  the  strong,  the  judgment  of  the  intelligent 
and  learned  will  be  influenced  by  the  prejudices  of  the  ignorant, 
and  the  lawlessness  of  the  criminal  will  make  a  criminal  out  of  the 
law  abiding  citizen.  They  now  realize  that  the  Negro  is  a  great 
economic  help  to  the  South.  In  1863  a  slave  was  worth  about 
$500.  A  Negro 's  economic  value  to  the  South  is  now  over  $2,500. 
Their  total  value  as  an  asset  to  the  South  is  said  to  be  over  ten 
billion  dollars.  The  South  now  realizes  she  cannot  get  along 
without  the  Negroes.  It  is  said  that  thousands  of  acres  of 


Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States       123 

fertile  land  in  the  South  have  remained  uncultivated  for  the  last 
five  years  because  of  the  migration  of  Negroes,  and  that  the 
migration  cost  the  South  millions  of  dollars.  These  things  are 
all  helping  to  bring  about  better  relationship  between  the  races 
in  the  South,  but  there  are  also  other  forces  at  work. 

The  thing  that  is  probably  doing  most  to  bring  about  better  re 
lationship  between  the  two  races  in  the  South  is  the  Southern  So 
ciological  Congress,  organized  in  1911.  Each  year  a  large  group 
of  the  leaders  of  both  races  gather  together  and  discuss  their  mu 
tual  problems.  In  these  meetings  nothing  is  done  or  said  to  sug 
gest  segregation,  but  everything  which  is  desirable  to  be  achieved 
by  separation  is  emphasized  in  harmony  with  the  best  social  and 
Christian  principles.  Nothing  is  done  or  said  to  cause  the  Negro 
to  feel  that  he  is  less  of  a  man  and  less  entitled  to  respect  because 
of  the  fact  that  he  is  a  Negro.  At  each  session  and  at  each 
meeting  of  the  session  white  women  and  white  men  and  Negro 
women  and  Negro  men  gather  together  and  speak  from  the  same 
platform,  a  thing  unheard  of  a  few  years  ago.  They  realize  that 
in  all  things  that  are  purely  social,  they  can  be  as  separate  as  the 
fingers,  yet  one  as  the  hand  in  all  things  essential  to  mutual 
progress. 

The  Northern  Border  States  seem  to  be  the  chief  battling 
ground  for  race  prejudice  at  present.  One  of  the  great  surprises 
that  I  received  when  I  began  studying  the  race  relationship  in 
the  Border  States,  was  to  find  that  the  northern  part  of  the 
Southern  Border  States  has  far  less  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
Negro,  is  more  antagonistic  to  his  presence,  and  less  willing  to 
share  work  with  him  than  the  southern  part  of  the  same  States. 
After  an  extended  study  of  the  race  relationship  I  am  convinced 
that  there  are  far  more  opportunities  for  the  Negro  in  the  far 
Northern  States  than  in  the  Northern  Border  States.  He  has 
opportunities  there  because  there  are  few  Negroes,  but  the 
moment  new  migrations  begin,  his  condition  becomes  one  of 
peril.  I  am  equally  sure  that  the  North  has  (especially  for  the 
last  few  years)  and  is  changing  rapidly  and  becoming  more 
hostile  to  the  Negro  every  year.  On  the  other  hand  the  South 
is  becoming  more  friendly  to  the  Negro  every  year;  it  offers  him 
greater  opportunities,  and  is  the  best  place  for  him  in  the  United 
States.  Both  sections  of  country  have  changed  their  attitude 


124      Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States 

since  the  Civil  War.  Some  fifty  years  ago  the  North  freed  the 
slaves  in  the  South,  but  some  fifty  years  later,  I  am  wondering 
who  is  going  to  free  the  Negro  industrial  slaves  of  the  North. 
The  South,  in  all  probability,  will  have  to  do  it,  and  do  it  in  a 
spirit  of  brotherly  love  rather  than  as  formerly  with  powder  and 
lead.  "Thou  shalt  treat  humanity"— it  was  Kant's  great  saying 
— "ever  as  an  end,  never  as  a  means  to  thine  own  selfish  end." 

While  the  race  problem  is  not  solved  by  any  means  and  will 
not  be  for  many  years  to  come,  we  have  some  great  men  working 
at  its  solution  and  we  should  be  thankful  indeed  for  the  big- 
hearted,  broad-minded  Southern  men  who  are  working  so  hard 
to  bring  about  better  relationship.  They  are  doing  a  great  work. 
Voltaire  tells  us  it  is  more  difficult  and  more  meritorious  to  wean 
men  of  their  prejudice  than  it  is  to  civilize  the  barbarian.  The 
solution  of  the  race  problem,  however,  depends  more  upon  the 
recognition  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of 
Man,  and  the  application  of  the  Golden  Rule  to  the  affairs  of 
life  than  anything  else.  Jesus'  law  of  brotherhood  is  universal 
in  its  working  or  it  is  no  law  at  all.  The  Negro  needs  to  learn  the 
Ten  Commandments  and  the  white  man  the  Golden  Rule  and 
how  to  apply  them  to  their  everyday  relationship.  Of  course 
each  community  will  have,  in  a  measure,  to  adjust  its  own  race 
problem.  We  can  scarcely  hasten  the  end  of  prejudice,  only 
diminish  it,  but  for  the  present,  each  race  and  each  section  should 
summon  to  its  aid  the  virtue  of  patience  and  charity. 


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125 


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Race  Relationship  in  Border  and  Northern  States       127 

Census  Reports  of  the  United  States,  1880, 1890, 1900, 1910. 

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I  also  used  various  other  reports,  periodical  literature,  newspapers,  etc. 


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